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Veal Loaf

A loaf of finely chopped veal mixed with cracker crumbs, seasonings, stock, eggs, and salt pork, baked slowly.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and summer savory match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 214 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Veal Loaf

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the loaf

  1. Chop the veal finely.

  2. In a bowl, combine veal, cracker crumbs, seasonings, stock, and slightly beaten eggs.

  3. Form the mixture into a loaf with your hands.

Bake and serve

  1. Cover the top with slightly beaten egg and a layer of cracker crumbs.

  2. Place the loaf in a baking pan on four thin strips of chopped salt pork.

  3. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for three hours, basting frequently with butter and hot water.

  4. Serve cold for best flavor.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

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.

  1. Thyme + summer savorytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together214 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Summer savory + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together671 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Onion + thymetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,171 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Onion + summer savorytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together299 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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, giving it its meaty texture and bulk.
Eggs
Bind the mixture together and set during baking to hold the loaf's shape.
Cracker crumbs
Absorb liquid and help bind the veal so the loaf stays moist and holds together.
Stock
Adds moisture to the mixture so the loaf stays juicy as it bakes.
Salt pork
Adds fat and savory flavor as it renders into the loaf and pan.

The step that matters

Basting during the long bake. Veal is lean, so without regular basting with fat and liquid the surface can dry out over three hours. Frequent basting keeps the exterior moist and helps it brown evenly.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, egg, thyme, summer savory, pepper, pork):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Turnipfits better
  3. Carrotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, egg, thyme, summer savory, pepper, pork. 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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