Name: Roast Neck of Veal
Ingredients: 4 tablespoonfuls of cream; 1 teaspoonful of minced lemon-peel; a cupful of gravy; 5 lbs; 6 persons; 1 egg boiled hard; one-third ham to two-thirds veal; cayenne; mace; pepper; salt

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 ↓

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.

Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ham + vealtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,264 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Mace + peppertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together12,257 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Egg + hamtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,526 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Lemon + vealtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,580 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

Mace and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,257 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: Provides the main meat, whose protein sets and browns as it roasts.
Ham: Adds savoury, salty flavour to the forcemeat balls mixed with the veal.
Egg: Binds the forcemeat so the balls hold their shape when fried.
Gravy: Adds moisture and savoury depth to the dish.
Cream: Adds richness and a softer texture to the dish.

The step that matters

Keep the veal well basted.. Lean roasted meat dries out quickly at high heat. Spooning its own juices and fat over the surface keeps it moist and promotes even, golden browning.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, lemon, egg, ham, veal, pepper):

Parsleyfits better
Tarragonfits better
Nutmegfits better
Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cream, lemon, egg, ham, veal, 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pork	100g cooked	242
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Cayenne	1 tsp (1.8g)	6
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Veal	not in our table	0
Mace	not in our table	0

Roast Neck of Veal