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Fillet of Veal Roasted

A roasted veal fillet served with melted butter, gravy, ham or bacon, and optional fresh cucumbers.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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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 ↓

Fillet of Veal Roasted

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the veal

  1. Cut off the knuckle of the leg of veal above the joint to create a fillet.

  2. Remove the bone and fill the space with stuffing, adding a layer under the fat.

  3. Truss the fillet into a good shape by drawing the fat around and tying it with tape.

Roast and serve

  1. Wrap the fillet in paper and place it a good distance from the fire to cook thoroughly.

  2. Serve with melted butter poured over and gravy around it, along with ham or bacon and fresh cucumbers if available.

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.

  1. Veal + hamtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,264 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Butter + hamtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,475 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  3. Veal + cucumbertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together439 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  4. Veal + buttertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,381 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  5. Butter + cucumbertop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,185 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Leg of veal
Forms the main meat; its lean muscle cooks into a tender, sliceable fillet when roasted gently.
Stuffing (forcemeat)
Adds moisture and flavour inside the lean veal, keeping the centre juicier as it cooks.
Melted butter
Adds richness and moisture to the surface of the roast, promoting gentle browning.

The step that matters

Wrapping and placing the fillet away from the fire. Veal is lean and dries out quickly under intense heat. Wrapping in paper and keeping it a good distance from the fire lets the heat penetrate slowly so the centre cooks through without the outside drying or scorching.

Swap the cucumber

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, butter, ham):

  1. Onionfits better
  2. Leekfits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Cucumberthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, butter, ham. 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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