Why it works: Carrot and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,873 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓
Veal, Breast Of, Rolled and Braised
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the veal
Spread forcemeat on the boned breast of veal and roll it tightly.
Bind the rolled veal securely with kitchen twine.
Surround the rolled veal with slices of fat bacon.
Place the rolled veal in a stewpan just large enough to hold it.
Add the carrot, onion, peppercorns, mace, and sweet herbs to the pan.
Pour in 2 to 3 cups of stock.
Braise
Cover the pan and simmer gently over low heat for 3 hours, basting frequently.
After 3 hours, remove the veal and place it on a dish.
Glaze and serve
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Strain the cooking liquid.
Boil it quickly until it thickens.
Brush the veal with the thickened liquid 2 to 3 times.
Garnish with forcemeat balls, bacon rashers, or dressed vegetables.
Serve with white sauce, Italian sauce, melted butter, parsley sauce, or mushroom sauce.
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.
-
Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,873 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
-
Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21,601 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Clove + macetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,400 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
-
Onion + clovetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,901 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
-
Carrot + macetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,592 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal breast
- Forms the main meat that becomes tender and juicy during slow simmering.
- Forcemeat
- Adds moisture and flavour inside the roll as it cooks.
- Fat bacon slices
- Bastes the veal with melting fat, adding richness and savoury flavour.
- Stock
- Provides the braising liquid that gently cooks the meat and becomes the glaze.
- Carrot
- Adds sweetness and aroma to the braising liquid.
The step that matters
Simmering gently over low heat. A gentle simmer keeps the connective tissue in the veal breaking down slowly into tender meat. Boiling hard toughens the muscle fibres and can dry the surface, so keep the liquid barely moving.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, spread, carrot, onion, clove):
- Celeryfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Thymefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, spread, carrot, onion, clove. 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.
You might also like
Carrot Soup134 recipes
Veal Patties50 recipes
Beef, Mutton, or Veal Broth6 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.