Why it works: Pepper and mace are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,257 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
Veal Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the meat
Cut the leg of veal into small pieces or the breast of mutton into chops.
Parboil the meat in water until tender.
Make the gravy
Remove the meat and season the gravy with pepper, coarse sea salt, mace, and bacon.
Dredge in a little flour to thicken the gravy.
Assemble and bake
Line the sides of a pie dish with pie crust.
Arrange the meat in the dish and pour in the gravy.
Cover with another layer of pie crust.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) for one hour.
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 + macetop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,257 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Veal + macetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,761 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Veal + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,049 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Veal + flourtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,886 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Pepper and mace barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,257 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal or mutton
- Provides the meat that becomes tender during parboiling and forms the pie's filling.
- Flour
- Thickens the gravy so it holds together around the meat instead of running out.
- Bacon
- Adds savoury, salty fat flavour to the gravy.
- Pie crust
- Forms the lined and covered pastry shell that encloses the meat and gravy during baking.
The step that matters
Dredge in a little flour to thicken the gravy. Flour must be stirred into the hot gravy so it thickens smoothly; if added unevenly or without enough liquid, it forms lumps and the gravy stays thin or grainy.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, pepper, flour):
- Turmericfits better
- Sagefits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, pepper, flour. 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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