Why it works: Pepper and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Mock Pigeons
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the veal
Remove the bone from the veal fillets.
Flatten the veal fillets with a hatchet.
Spread the fillets with a mixture of crumbs and chopped ham.
Season the fillets well.
Roll the meat up tightly.
Bind the rolls into oblong shapes with soft string.
Bake
Place the rolls in a dripping pan.
Pour 2 cups of boiling soup over the rolls.
Cover the pan and bake at 350°F (175°C) for nearly 2 hours.
Baste the rolls with gravy during baking.
Clip the strings carefully without pulling hard to maintain the shape of the meat.
Make the gravy and serve
Transfer the rolls to a hot dish.
Thicken the gravy with browned flour.
Season the gravy with pepper, salt, and tomato ketchup.
Boil the gravy for 1 minute.
Pour part of the gravy over the rolls.
Serve the remaining gravy in a separate dish.
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 + tomatotop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Meat + hamtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,095 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
-
Ketchup + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,435 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Veal + hamtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,264 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Meat + tomatotop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,438 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal fillets
- Forms the outer meat that is rolled, cooked, and sliced for serving.
- Crumbs
- Absorb juices and add body to the stuffing inside the rolls.
- Chopped ham
- Adds savory, salty flavor to the stuffing inside the rolls.
- Browned flour
- Thickens the gravy and adds a deeper, toasted color and flavor.
- Tomato ketchup
- Adds sweetness and acidity to the seasoned gravy.
The step that matters
Rolling and tying the veal. Rolls that are loose or tied too loosely can unravel or open during baking. Tight rolling and firm binding keep the stuffing enclosed and the shape intact while the meat cooks.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, meat, ham, pepper, ketchup, flour):
- Shallotfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, meat, ham, pepper, ketchup, 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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