Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Veal Olives
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the rolls
Remove the bone from the veal fillet and cut thin slices the size of the leg.
Beat the slices flat and rub them with the beaten egg yolk.
Place a slice of boiled ham on each piece.
Sprinkle the ham-covered slices with salt, pepper, nutmeg, parsley, and bread crumbs.
Roll the slices tightly and secure with skewers.
Rub the rolls with egg.
Coat the rolls in bread crumbs.
Bake and simmer
Place the rolls on a baking sheet and bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven.
When browned on one side, turn them over.
Cook until done.
Transfer the rolls to a rich, thick gravy and simmer until tender.
Garnish with forcemeat balls and sliced green pickles.
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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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Nutmeg + parsleytop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,062 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,536 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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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 fillet
- Forms the main body of the roll and cooks up tender when simmered gently.
- Egg yolk
- Acts as a binding glue that helps the bread crumb coating adhere.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a crisp, browned coating on the outside of the rolls.
- Boiled ham
- Adds savoury, salty flavour inside each roll.
The step that matters
Roll the slices tightly and secure with skewers. Loose rolls can open during baking and simmering, letting the filling escape. Tight rolling and firm skewering keep the filling inside and the shape intact.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, egg, ham, pepper, parsley, bread):
- Marjoramfits better
- Thymefits about as well
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Nutmegthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, egg, ham, pepper, parsley, bread. 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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