Why it works: Veal and ham are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,264 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Eoast Veal
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash and dry the leg of veal.
Lard the veal with strips of fat bacon or ham.
Dredge the veal well with flour and season with coarse sea salt and black pepper.
Roast and serve
Baste frequently while roasting.
Serve with thickened gravy.
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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Veal + hamtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,264 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Veal + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,049 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Ham + peppertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,058 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Veal + flourtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,886 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Leg of veal
- Is the main cut of meat that is roasted and carved for the dish.
- Fat bacon or ham
- Larding adds fat through the lean veal, keeping it moist and flavourful as it roasts.
- Flour
- Dredging the surface helps form a browned crust and can thicken the pan juices.
The step that matters
Baste frequently while roasting. Lean veal can dry out at the surface during roasting. Regular basting with pan juices keeps the outside moist and adds flavour.
“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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