Why it works: Pepper and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,814 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Veal Cutlets and Bacon
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the veal
Purchase a few trimmings or cuttings of veal, or a small piece from the chump end of the loin.
Cut the veal into thin slices.
Season the slices with pepper and salt.
Roll the seasoned slices in flour.
Fry and make the sauce
Fry the floured veal slices in the fat remaining from previously fried bacon slices.
Place the fried veal and bacon in a dish.
Shake a tablespoonful of flour into the frying pan.
Add a few drops of ketchup or vinegar and a gill of water to the pan.
Stir all together over the fire until it boils for five minutes.
Pour the sauce over the cutlets.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | 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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Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal (in the method)
- Forms the main meat of the cutlets, cooked tender when sliced thin.
- Flour (in the method)
- Coats the slices so they brown in the fat and thickens the pan sauce.
- Bacon (in the method)
- Its rendered fat cooks the veal and adds a smoky, savory flavour.
The step that matters
Stir the sauce as it boils. Flour stirred into hot pan fat must be cooked while stirring, or it stays floury and lumpy. Keeping it moving at a boil for the full five minutes thickens the sauce smoothly.
“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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