Why it works: Pepper and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,609 recipes mention both. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
A Fillet of Veal Roasted
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.
Prepare
Remove the bone from the veal and fill the cavity with a mixture of bread crumbs, pepper, salt, sweet marjoram, butter, fat pork, and egg.
Mix the filling well and skewer the veal tightly to keep the dressing inside.
Roast
Lard the veal with pork or baste it often with butter if not larded.
Roast the veal in a 400°F (200°C) oven for four hours.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Pepper + marjoramtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,609 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Veal + porktop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together4,930 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Marjoram + porktop 13% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together883 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Bread + porktop 13% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together4,371 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal fillet
- Forms the main body of the roast, cooking into tender, juicy meat over a long roast.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb juices and butter in the filling, keeping the stuffing moist and giving it body.
- Egg
- Binds the filling so it holds together inside the cavity while roasting.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, keeping the meat and filling moist and flavorful.
- Fat pork
- Adds fat that bastes the lean veal from within, helping keep it moist.
The step that matters
Skewering the veal tightly. Veal shrinks and the filling expands as it heats; if the roll is loose, the stuffing can escape or cook unevenly. Tight skewering keeps the dressing contained and the roast shaped for even cooking.
Flavor stand-ins for the marjoram
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, bread, pepper, butter, egg, pork):
- Parsleybetter flavor fit
- Sageabout as good a flavor fit
- Nutmegabout as good a flavor fit
- Marjoramthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, bread, pepper, butter, egg, pork. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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