Why it works: Lemon and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Cutlets of Sweetbreads À LA Victoria
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mixture
Chop the sweetbreads into pieces, aiming for a total volume of two cups; if insufficient, add chopped mushrooms until the volume reaches two cups, then season.
Beat the egg slightly and add it to the thick white sauce, then combine the mixtures.
Shape and fry
Cool the mixture, shape into cutlets, coat with breadcrumbs, and fry.
Make a cut in the small end of each cutlet and insert a piece of cold boiled macaroni, one and one-half inches long, into each cutlet.
Serve
Serve the cutlets with Allemande sauce.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Lemon | juice of 1 lemon (48ml) | 12 |
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 12 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Parsley | 1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g) | 1 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Sauce | 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.
-
Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Nutmeg + parsleytop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,062 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sweetbreads
- Form the main body of the cutlet, providing its meaty texture and rich flavour.
- Egg
- Binds the mixture so the cutlets hold their shape when fried.
- Thick white sauce
- Adds moisture and creaminess, binding the sweetbreads into a cohesive filling.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich sweetbread and cream flavour.
The step that matters
Cool the mixture before shaping. A warm, loose mixture cannot hold its shape and will spread or break apart. Cooling lets the white sauce and egg set firmly enough to form cutlets that keep their outline during frying.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, pepper, parsley, egg, sauce):
- Tarragonfits better
- Dillfits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Nutmegthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, pepper, parsley, egg, sauce. 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.