Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Cannelon a LA Royale
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cannelon
Pass the veal through a mincing machine twice.
Add the minced ham, pepper, salt, parsley, shallot, lemon peel, and nutmeg. Mix well.
Add the beaten yolks and whites of the eggs.
Shape into a roll.
Wrap in greased Soyer paper.
Place in a bag.
Cook and make the sauce
Cook for 25 minutes in a 300°F (150°C) oven.
For the sauce, rub the tomatoes through a sieve into a saucepan.
Add pepper, salt, sugar, vinegar, and onion juice or garlic.
Heat and reduce slightly.
Optionally, add cooking port and butter for improved flavor.
Serve
Serve the cannelon on a hot dish with the 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.
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Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Parsley + shallottop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,737 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Parsley + nutmegtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,062 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cold roast veal
- Forms the bulk of the roll, giving it a firm, sliceable body when minced.
- Eggs
- Bind the minced meat and set on cooking, holding the roll together.
- Cooked ham
- Adds savoury flavour and salty depth to the meat mixture.
- Ripe tomatoes
- Provide the base of the sauce, adding acidity and fresh flavour.
- Sugar
- Balances the acidity of the tomatoes and vinegar in the sauce.
The step that matters
Reducing the tomato sauce. Heating and reducing slightly concentrates the tomato flavour and thickens the sauce. Stopping too early leaves it thin and watery, while over-reducing makes it sticky and sharp.
Swap the shallot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, ham, pepper, parsley, lemon, nutmeg, egg):
- Shallotthe original
- Carrotfits about as well
- Spinachfits about as well
- Capsicumfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, ham, pepper, parsley, lemon, nutmeg, egg. 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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