Why it works: Veal and meat are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,890 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Veal Loaf
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the meat
Boil the veal until cooked.
Chop the veal finely.
Mix and bake
In a bowl, combine the chopped veal, beaten eggs, crushed crackers, salt, and black pepper.
Moisten the mixture with the water used to boil the meat.
Transfer the mixture to a bread pan and bake for 30 minutes at 350°F (175°C).
Let cool and slice to serve.
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 + meattop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,890 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Pepper + meattop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,777 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Veal + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,049 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + meattop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,432 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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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
What each ingredient does
- Veal
- Provides the main body of the loaf and its meaty texture.
- Eggs
- Bind the chopped meat together so the loaf holds its shape when sliced.
- Crackers
- Absorb moisture and help give the loaf a tender, sliceable structure.
The step that matters
Moisten the mixture with the cooking water. Lean veal dries out easily, and adding the reserved broth-like cooking water keeps the loaf moist during baking. Add it gradually so the mixture stays firm enough to hold its shape.
“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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