Why it works: Lemon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Veal Cutlets
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the veal
Remove all fat and bones from one pound veal steak.
Shape the meat into round flat pieces about the size of doughnuts; pound out and skewer into good shape.
Sprinkle the pieces with salt and pepper.
Roll the pieces in sifted bread crumbs.
Brown and make the sauce
Fry the cutlets in pork fat for fifteen minutes until a handsome brown.
Lay the browned cutlets in a stew pan.
In a saucepan, melt one tablespoonful butter, add one tablespoonful flour, and mix smoothly.
Add a cupful of hot water or stock made from the trimmings of the veal, a pinch of pepper, and one tablespoon lemon juice or vinegar or mixed horseradish.
Simmer
Cook the cutlets by just simmering them for three-fourths of an hour.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Beef | 100g cooked | 250 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Veal | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Veal + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal steak
- Forms the main body of the cutlets, becoming tender and juicy when cooked gently.
- Butter
- Adds richness and flavor to the sauce base.
- Flour
- Thickens the butter and the liquid into a smooth sauce.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich sauce and balances its flavor.
The step that matters
Simmer gently, do not boil. Rapid boiling toughens the proteins in the veal and can make the crumb coating fall away. A gentle simmer lets the meat cook through slowly and stay tender while the sauce thickens.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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