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 ↓
Roast Yeal
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
Place in the oven and baste frequently.
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
- Veal
- Forms the main lean meat of the roast, which sets the texture of the dish.
- Fat bacon or ham
- Melts slowly into the lean veal, adding fat and moisture while it roasts.
- Flour
- Coats the surface to promote browning and helps form a flavourful crust.
The step that matters
Basting frequently in the oven. Veal is lean and dries out easily in dry oven heat. Spooning the cooking juices back over the surface keeps it moist and helps the coating brown evenly.
“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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