Name: Teal and Ham Pies
Ingredients: Veal, cut into 4-inch square pieces, ½ inch thick; Thin slices of uncooked ham, mild bacon, or pickled pork; Chopped parsley; Pepper; Coarse sea salt; Hard-boiled eggs, sliced; Stock gravy (optional)

Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Teal and Ham Pies

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Veal, cut into 4-inch square pieces, ½ inch thick
Thin slices of uncooked ham, mild bacon, or pickled pork
Chopped parsley
Pepper
Coarse sea salt
Hard-boiled eggs, sliced
Stock gravy (optional)

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.

Layer the veal pieces in a dish with slices of ham, bacon, or pork.
Sprinkle chopped parsley, pepper, and coarse sea salt over the layers.
Add a few slices of hard-boiled eggs.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 1 to 1¼ hours.
Make a hole in the top and pour in stock gravy just before serving.
For extra flavor, add small balls of veal stuffing.

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.

Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Veal + hamtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,264 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,526 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Veal + parsleytop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,766 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Veal + peppertop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,049 recipes

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