Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓
Roast Veal
Ingredients
Directions
Make the stuffing
Combine the bruised bread crumbs, chopped suet, shallot, thyme, marjoram, and winter savory in a bowl.
Add the eggs, salt, and pepper, then mix until you have a firm paste.
Stuff and cook
Cut a pocket in the veal and fill the pocket with the stuffing.
Secure the stuffing with a skewer.
Cook the veal for about an hour for a 4-pound piece, ensuring it is thoroughly cooked.
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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Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,225 recipes
Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).
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Thyme + winter savorytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together780 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Marjoram + winter savorytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together455 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
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Shallot + winter savorytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together221 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Shallot + thymetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,476 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb moisture and bind with the eggs to form a firm, sliceable stuffing.
- Suet
- Adds fat that keeps the stuffing moist and rich as it cooks.
- Eggs
- Bind the stuffing together so it holds its shape in the pocket.
The step that matters
Cook the veal thoroughly. The stuffing sits inside the meat, so the center must reach a safe temperature. Relying only on time can miss doneness, and a thermometer gives a more reliable check for a stuffed roast.
Swap the shallot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, thyme, marjoram, winter savory, egg, pepper):
- Shallotthe original
- Leekfits about as well
- Carrotfits less well
- Capsicumfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, thyme, marjoram, winter savory, egg, pepper. 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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