Why it works: Bread and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,964 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Veal Croquettes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the veal
Cook a solid piece of veal until thoroughly tender, then chill completely.
Chop the veal finely, ensuring all gristle is removed.
Shape the croquettes
Mix in the dry bread crumbs, then add enough soup stock or gravy to moisten the mixture.
Season with cayenne pepper, coarse sea salt, and Worcestershire sauce or tomato ketchup.
Form the mixture into soft, cork-shaped balls.
Roll the balls in flour.
Fry and serve
Fry in very hot lard for about 2 minutes until golden brown.
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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Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Veal + breadtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,056 recipes
Shared aroma: cis-3-hexenol (green, grassy).
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Sauce + flourtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,078 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Pepper + flourtop 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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal
- Forms the main body of the croquettes and gives their savory, meaty flavor.
- Dry bread crumbs
- Absorb the moisture and give the mixture body so the balls hold their shape.
- Soup stock or gravy
- Moistens the mixture so it stays tender rather than dry and crumbly.
- Flour
- Dry coating that helps the outside brown and crisp when fried.
The step that matters
Fry in very hot lard. Frying in very hot fat sears the outside quickly, creating a golden crust and sealing the coating so the croquette absorbs less grease. Lard that is not hot enough lets the balls soak up fat and turn heavy.
“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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