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Veal Loaf

A loaf of seasoned veal and optional pork baked with crackers and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,015 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Veal Loaf

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. In a large bowl, combine the veal, pork (if using), salt, pepper, powdered cracker, cream or milk, butter, eggs, and nutmeg.

  3. Mold the mixture into a loaf shape.

Bake and serve

  1. Place the loaf in a pan with a little water.

  2. Sprinkle bits of butter and cracker crumbs on top.

  3. Bake for 2 hours.

  4. Let cool 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. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  3. Veal + porktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,930 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  4. Cream + nutmegtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,920 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  5. Pork + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,933 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

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 loaf and gives it its meaty structure.
Eggs
Bind the mixture so the loaf holds its shape when sliced.
Powdered cracker
Absorbs liquid and helps give the loaf a firm, tender texture.
Cream or milk
Adds moisture so the loaf stays tender rather than dry.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, keeping the loaf moist and flavourful.

The step that matters

Bake for 2 hours. Veal loaf is dense and must cook through evenly. Baking it in a pan with a little water keeps the surface from drying out while the centre sets. Letting it cool before slicing lets the proteins firm up so the slices hold together.

Swap the nutmeg

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

  1. Nutmegthe original
  2. Parsleyfits about as well
  3. Sagefits about as well
  4. Tarragonfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, pork, pepper, cream, egg, butter. 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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