Name: Creamed Veal Patties
Ingredients: 2 pounds veal, boiled and diced; 2 tablespoons butter; 1 pint sweet cream; 3 tablespoons flour; 1 can mushrooms, drained; ½ can mushroom liquor; 6 hard boiled eggs, diced; Salt and pepper to taste; Bread crumbs for topping

Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Creamed Veal Patties

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.

Make the sauce

In a bowl, cream together the butter and flour.
Pour the boiling hot cream over the butter and flour mixture.

Assemble and bake

Add the mushroom liquor, diced hard boiled eggs, salt, and pepper.
Mix in the diced veal and mushrooms.
Transfer the mixture to a baking dish and cover with bread crumbs.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,525 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Mushroom + breadtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,536 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Mushroom + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together13,580 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 patties and provides the meaty base of the dish.
Butter: Combines with flour to form a roux that thickens the cream into a smooth sauce.
Flour: Thickens the cream by absorbing liquid and gelatinizing when heated with butter.
Sweet cream: Forms the rich, smooth sauce that moistens the veal and mushrooms.
Mushrooms: Add earthy flavor and moisture, and their liquor deepens the savory taste.
Hard boiled eggs: Add body and a soft, rich texture that blends into the creamy sauce.

The step that matters

Pour the boiling hot cream over the butter and flour mixture. Adding hot liquid to a flour and fat mixture must be stirred steadily, or lumps form. Starch swells as it heats, so the sauce thickens smoothly only when the liquid is added gradually and mixed well.

“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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Creamed Veal Patties