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Veal Croquettes

Veal croquettes are fried balls of ground veal mixed with milk, flour, parsley, lemon, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Hamilton, Ohio. First Methodist Episcopal church. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Veal Croquettes

2 dozen croquettes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the veal

  1. Boil 1/2 pound veal.

  2. When cold, grind the veal through a meat grinder.

Make the mixture

  1. Place the ground veal in a double boiler with 1 cup milk and 1 cup veal broth; rub 2 tablespoons flour with 2 cups milk; pour into hot milk, stir until thick, and add 1 tablespoon chopped parsley, juice of 2 lemons, a little nutmeg, salt, pepper, and onion juice if desired.

  2. When cold and stiff, mold the mixture into balls.

Bread and fry

  1. Beat 1 egg with 1 tablespoon hot water; dip the balls, roll them in fine bread crumbs, and fry in hot lard.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

701Calories
28 gProtein
15 gFat
110 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 9 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Vealnot in our table0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Hamilton, Ohio. First Methodist Episcopal church. [from old catalog]. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Parsley + nutmegtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Parsley + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together16,675 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Veal
Provides the main meaty body of the croquettes.
Flour
Thickens the milk so the mixture holds together when shaped.
Milk
Makes a moist, creamy base that binds the veal.
Egg
Coats the balls so the bread crumbs adhere and form a crisp shell.

The step that matters

Chilling the mixture until cold and stiff before shaping. A warm, loose mixture cannot hold its shape and may fall apart in the fat. Cooling lets the starch-thickened mixture firm up so the balls keep their form during frying.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, flour, veal, egg, nutmeg, pepper):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Parsleythe original
  3. Cardamomfits about as well
  4. Marjoramfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, flour, veal, egg, nutmeg, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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