Why it works: Veal and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,766 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Veal Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Boil the veal until tender.
Season the broth with parsley, bay leaf, salt, and pepper.
Let the veal cool.
Cover the sides of a deep baking dish with a rich pastry.
Place an inverted cup in the center of the dish and add the veal cut into good-sized pieces.
Hard boil the eggs, cut them in half, and add them to the dish with the veal.
Pour gravy over the mixture and cover with a rich crust.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) until well browned.
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 + parsleytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,766 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Parsley + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,765 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Veal + eggtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,845 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, egg):
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
- Capersfits about as well
- Tarragonfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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