Why it works: Celery and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,810 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Cold Veal and Ham Timbale
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Prepare the timbale paste with 1 pound corned ham, 2 pounds leg veal, 6 hard-boiled eggs, 1 teaspoon each of royal celery, salt, and marjoram, 3 sprigs parsley, white pepper, and salt to taste.
Line the timbale mould with the paste, first setting it on a greased baking pan.
Cut the ham and veal into scallops, and the eggs into slices.
Assemble and bake
Arrange alternate layers of ham, veal, eggs, and seasonings in the mould.
When all layers are used, fill the mould with water, wet the exposed edges, and bake in a moderate oven for 2 hours.
Serve
When cooled, open the mould and serve as desired.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Pork | 100g cooked | 242 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Celery | 1 stalk (40g) | 6 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Parsley | 1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g) | 1 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Veal | 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.
-
Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,810 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Parsley + white peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,451 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
-
Ham + vealtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,264 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Celery + white peppertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together853 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
-
Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,526 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Corned ham
- Provides savoury flavour and a firm, sliceable filling layer.
- Leg veal
- Forms the main meaty layer and gives the filling its mild, tender texture.
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Add a firm, sliced layer that holds shape and contrasts with the meat.
- Parsley
- Adds fresh, herbal aroma to the paste and filling.
The step that matters
Baking the timbale in water. Baking the mould in a water bath with a moderate oven heats the paste gently and evenly. Too much heat can toughen the meat and cause the paste to crack or dry out before the filling sets.
Swap the white pepper
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, veal, celery, parsley, egg):
- Tarragonfits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Thymefits better
- White pepperthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against ham, veal, celery, parsley, egg. 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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