Why it works: Parsley and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓
Veal Cutlets
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cutlets
Season the veal cutlets with salt and pepper.
Beat the eggs in a bowl and dip the cutlets in the egg.
Coat the cutlets in stale bread crumbs or grated cracker.
Fry and make the gravy
Heat lard in a frying pan until boiling hot.
Fry the cutlets until brown, turning them as needed.
Remove the cutlets and add ½ cup of cream or rich milk (or water with a lump of butter) to the pan.
Stir in 1 tablespoon of brown flour and season with parsley, thyme, and nutmeg.
Bring the gravy to a boil before serving.
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.
-
Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,057 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
-
Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,585 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Flour + parsleytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,675 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal cutlets
- Main protein that is browned and served as the dish's centerpiece.
- Large eggs
- Bind the crumb coating so it adheres to the veal during frying.
- Stale bread crumbs or grated cracker
- Form a crisp, browned coating on the outside of the cutlets.
- Cream or rich milk
- Adds richness and moisture to the pan gravy.
- Brown flour
- Thickens the pan liquid into a gravy.
The step that matters
Fry the cutlets until brown, turning them as needed. Frying in lard that is already very hot sets the crumb coating quickly, so it crisps and browns instead of absorbing fat and turning greasy or soggy. Turning them keeps the coating evenly browned and cooked through.
Swap the thyme
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, pepper, egg, bread, cream, flour, parsley):
- Nutmegfits better
- Marjoramfits about as well
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Thymethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, pepper, egg, bread, cream, flour, parsley. 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.
More veal cutlets recipes
You might also like
Brown Bread461 recipes
White Bread80 recipes
Bread Omelette60 recipes
Oatmeal Bread51 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.