Why it works: Butter and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,227 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Sauce for Minced Veal
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
Take the bones of cold roast or boiled veal, dredge them well with flour, and put them into a stewpan.
Add a pint and a half of weak broth, a small onion, a little grated or finely minced lemon peel, half a tea‑spoonful of salt, and a blade of pounded mace.
Thicken it with a table‑spoonful of flour rubbed into half an ounce of butter, stir it into the broth, and let it boil gently for about half an hour.
Strain it through a tamis or sieve, and it is ready to put to the veal to warm up, which is to be done by placing the stewpan by the side of the fire.
Serve
Squeeze in half a lemon, cover the bottom of the dish with snippets of toasted bread cut into triangles, and garnish the dish with slices of ham or bacon.
A little basil wine gives an agreeable vegetable relish to minced veal.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Mace | 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.
-
Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Lemon + macetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,315 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
-
Butter + macetop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,405 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Butter and mace barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,405 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
- Butter
- Enriches the sauce and adds richness and a smooth mouthfeel when rubbed with flour.
- Flour (in the method)
- Thickens the broth into a smooth sauce as its starch swells when heated.
- Lemon peel
- Adds bright aromatic acidity that lifts the flavour of the rich sauce.
- Mace
- Adds warm, aromatic spice notes to the broth.
The step that matters
Thickening the sauce with flour and butter. Flour must be rubbed into the butter and stirred into the broth so it disperses without lumps; the starch then swells as the liquid simmers, giving a smooth, lightly thickened sauce. Boiling gently rather than hard keeps the sauce from scorching and breaking.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, lemon):
- Parsleyfits better
- Thymefits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, lemon. 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.
You might also like
Lemon Sauce236 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.