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Timbale of Veal

A baked veal dish formed into a compact shape with breadcrumbs, onion, gravy, butter, and eggs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Timbale of Veal

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the veal

  1. Boil the veal until tender, then season with salt and pepper.

  2. Let the veal cool in the stock, then chop it finely.

Make the mixture

  1. In a bowl, combine the chopped veal, bread crumbs, onion juice, salt, and pepper.

  2. Heat the gravy and butter together, then pour it over the veal mixture.

  3. Beat the eggs lightly and stir them into the mixture.

Bake and serve

  1. Butter ramekins or a deep baking pan and pack the meat mixture tightly into it.

  2. Place the ramekins or baking dish in a deep pan filled with warm water.

  3. Bake at 300°F (150°C) for one hour.

  4. Once done, turn out onto individual dishes or a platter and garnish as desired.

  5. Pour some seasoned gravy over the timbale before serving.

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. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  4. Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Bread + oniontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,676 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

Veal
Forms the main body of the timbale, giving it substance and a meaty texture when chopped.
Bread crumbs
Absorb liquid and help bind the chopped meat so the timbale holds its shape.
Eggs
Set when baked, binding the mixture into a firm, sliceable custard-like loaf.
Gravy
Adds moisture and savory flavor so the mixture stays tender rather than dry.
Butter
Adds richness and flavor, and helps keep the mixture moist.

The step that matters

Baking in a water bath. Eggs set into a smooth, tender loaf when heated gently. A pan of warm water around the ramekins moderates the heat, so the edges don't overcook and turn rubbery before the centre sets.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, pepper, bread, butter, egg):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Leekfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, pepper, bread, butter, 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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