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Veal Loaf

A loaf made from finely chopped veal, crackers, eggs, and spices, baked until firm.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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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. Mix the veal, crackers, eggs, salt, pepper, and allspice in a bowl. Add butter if the veal is lean.

  2. Transfer the mixture to a smooth tin mold or pan.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 2 hours.

  2. Let the loaf cool in the pan, then turn it out.

  3. Slice and serve cold for luncheon or supper.

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. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Veal + peppertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,049 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Veal + buttertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,381 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Veal
Forms the body of the loaf and supplies the meat texture that sets when baked.
Crackers
Absorb moisture and bind the meat so the loaf holds its shape when sliced.
Eggs
Bind the mixture and set during baking to hold the loaf together.
Butter
Adds fat and moisture to lean veal, keeping the loaf from drying out.

The step that matters

Adding butter to lean veal. Veal with little fat can bake dry and crumbly. Butter supplies fat that keeps the loaf moist, so the step matters most when the veal is lean.

Swap the allspice

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

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

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

More veal loaf recipes

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