Name: Stuffed Yeal
Ingredients: bread crumbs; 1 small onion, finely chopped; 1 raw egg, beaten; herbs of your choice

Why it works: Bread and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 22,662 recipes. Both carry (e)-2-octenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Stuffed Yeal

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

bread crumbs
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 raw egg, beaten
herbs of your choice

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Have the butcher make an incision for dressing the veal.
In a bowl, combine bread crumbs, chopped onion, beaten egg, and desired herbs.
Stuff the mixture into the veal.

Roast

Cook in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 25 minutes per pound, until well done.

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.

Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Bread + oniontop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,676 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Onion + eggtop 34% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together23,333 recipes

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

Onion and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 23,333 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Bread crumbs: Absorb moisture and give the stuffing a soft, bulky body.
Raw egg: Binds the stuffing so it holds together when cooked.
Onion: Adds savory aroma and flavor to the stuffing.

The step that matters

Cook in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 25 minutes per pound, until well done.. Veal is lean and dries out easily, and the raw egg in the stuffing must reach a safe, fully cooked temperature. Cooking to well done at a moderate heat, and checking the stuffing's center, protects both texture and safety.