Why it works: Butter and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Broiled Veal Cutlets
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Trim the rib cutlets and scrape the bone ends until smooth and white.
Broil and serve
Broil the cutlets over moderate heat, basting occasionally with butter.
Turn the cutlets often while broiling.
Serve the cutlets arranged in a circle with tomato sauce.
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.
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Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Tomato + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,469 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Veal + tomatotop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together709 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Butter + tomatotop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,918 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Veal + buttertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,381 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal cutlets
- Provide the meat that is cooked and served as the main component.
- Butter
- Basting adds fat and richness, helping the surface brown and stay moist under the broiler.
- Tomato sauce
- Adds acidity and moisture as the accompanying sauce served with the cutlets.
The step that matters
Turn the cutlets often while broiling. Frequent turning and basting under direct heat helps the cutlets cook evenly and brown without the outside drying or scorching before the center is done.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, butter, sauce):
- Shallotfits about as well
- Onionfits about as well
- Tomatothe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, butter, 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.
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