Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Eoast Veal
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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make a stuffing similar to that used for roast turkey and fill the cavity of the veal loin with it, securing it tightly.
Rub the veal with coarse sea salt, black pepper, and a little butter.
Place the veal in a pan with a little water.
Roast and serve
Roast for about 2 hours, basting frequently until thoroughly cooked.
Remove the threads before serving.
Thicken the gravy with a little flour.
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Turkey + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,592 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Turkey + peppertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,636 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Veal + turkeytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together393 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Veal loin
- Forms the main body of the roast, providing the meat that is cooked and served.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness to the surface, helping it brown and taste savoury.
- Flour
- Thickens the pan juices into a gravy by binding with the liquid as it heats.
The step that matters
Basting frequently during the roast. Regular basting moistens the surface as it cooks, helping prevent the lean meat from drying out before the centre is fully cooked.
“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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