Skip to main content
Main

Veal Loaf

A baked loaf made from finely chopped veal, ham, eggs, butter, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Pepper and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,395 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Veal Loaf

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Chop the veal and ham very fine.

  2. Beat the eggs without separating them and melt the butter.

Make the loaf

  1. Mix the veal, ham, crumbs, and seasonings together.

  2. Add the eggs, then the cream and melted butter, mixing thoroughly.

  3. Press the mixture into a mold that has been wet with cold water.

  4. Carefully turn it out into a flat baking pan.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake for 2 hours in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C), basting occasionally with melted butter.

  2. Serve hot in a loaf with noodles around it and a tureen of tomato sauce, or slice cold for luncheon.

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 + allspicetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  3. Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Onion + allspicetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,270 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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 sets into a firm, sliceable texture when cooked.
Eggs
Bind the mixture so the loaf holds its shape after baking and cooling.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture, and browns the surface when basted during baking.
Ham
Contributes savoury flavour and a denser, more savoury bite to the loaf.
Bread or cracker crumbs
Absorb liquid and help give the loaf a tender, cohesive texture.
Cream
Adds moisture and softness, keeping the loaf from drying out as it bakes.

The step that matters

Turn it out carefully into the baking pan. The mixture is soft and held together mainly by the eggs and crumbs before baking. Rough handling can tear or deflate it, so lifting it gently keeps the loaf intact.

Swap the allspice

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

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Celeryfits better
  4. Allspicethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, egg, butter, pepper, ham, cream, onion. 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 loaf recipes

Spiced 11Creole 3 See all 380 →

You might also like

Brown BreadBrown Bread461 recipesWhite BreadWhite Bread80 recipesBread OmeletteBread Omelette60 recipesOatmeal BreadOatmeal Bread51 recipes