Why it works: Pepper and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Roast Veal
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the veal
Wipe the meat with a damp cheesecloth.
Sprinkle with coarse sea salt and black pepper, then dredge with flour.
Truss the meat into shape and place it on a rack in a dripping pan or on slices of fat salt pork.
Surround the meat with strips of fat salt pork.
Roast and baste
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 3 to 4 hours, basting often.
For the first 30 minutes, baste with melted butter mixed with boiling water.
After 30 minutes, baste with the drippings in the pan.
If not browned sufficiently, place under the gas flame for a few moments, basting often.
Serve
Remove from the pan and transfer to a serving platter, surrounding with stuffed tomatoes.
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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Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pork + tomatotop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Veal + porktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,930 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + porktop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,933 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Flour and butter 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 leg
- Forms the main body of the roast, cooking slowly to become tender and juicy.
- Flour
- Coats the surface so it browns and forms a light crust during roasting.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps the surface brown when basted over the meat.
- Fat salt pork
- Bastes the meat with melting fat, keeping it moist and adding savory flavor.
The step that matters
Browning under the gas flame. Brief high heat can scorch the surface quickly, so it must be watched and basted closely to brown evenly without burning.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, pepper, flour, butter, pork):
- Potatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, pepper, flour, butter, pork. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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