Name: Veal Loaf
Ingredients: 3 pounds of veal; 1/2 pound of ham; 1/4 pound of salt pork; 1 cupful of fine bread; 1 teaspoonful of salt; 1/2 teaspoonful of pepper; 1 teaspoonful of onion juice; 1/2 teaspoonful of ground mace; 1/2 teaspoonful of allspice; 2 eggs

Why it works: Pepper and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,395 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. 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.

Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,395 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Mace + allspicetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,189 recipes

Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,536 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,214 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Veal + porktop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,930 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

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

What each ingredient does

Veal: Forms the main body of the loaf and gives it a meaty structure once cooked.
Ham: Adds savoury flavour and some fat, keeping the loaf moist as it cooks.
Salt pork: Adds fat that helps keep the loaf moist and tender during the long bake.
Fine bread: Soaks up juices and fat, helping the loaf hold together and stay tender.
Eggs: Bind the chopped meats together so the loaf sets firm when baked.

The step that matters

Cook in a moderate oven for two hours, basting several times. Lean meat dries out over a long bake. Regular basting with melted butter and water adds moisture and keeps the surface from drying, while the egg and crumb coating helps it brown.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, ham, pork, bread, pepper, onion, allspice):

Thymefits better
Marjoramfits better
Clovefits better
Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, ham, pork, bread, pepper, onion, allspice. 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
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Pork	100g cooked	242
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Allspice	1 tsp ground (1.9g)	5
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Veal	not in our table	0
Mace	not in our table	0

Veal Loaf

Veal Loaf

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Bake and serve

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)