Why it works: Pepper and beef are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Veal Collops
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the veal
Cut the veal into pieces the size of an oyster.
Mix salt, pepper, and a little mace; rub this seasoning over each piece.
Dip the seasoned pieces in egg, then coat with cracker crumbs.
Fry the cutlets
Heat 2 to 3 tablespoons of lard or beef drippings in a frying pan until boiling hot.
Fry the cutlets, seasoned with salt and pepper and dredged with flour, until browned on both sides.
Remove the cutlets and set aside excess grease for later use.
Make the gravy and stew
In the remaining grease, mix 1 tablespoon of flour until smooth and brown.
Gradually add 1 cup of cold water, seasoning with salt and pepper.
Bring the gravy to a boil.
Return the meat to the pan.
Cover and stew gently for 15 minutes to soften the meat.
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 + beeftop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Veal + beeftop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,784 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pepper + macetop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,257 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Veal + macetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,761 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Lean veal
- Forms the main body of the dish, becoming tender through gentle stewing.
- Egg
- Binds the cracker crumbs to the surface of each piece of veal.
- Cracker crumbs
- Form a crisp, browned coating when fried.
- Flour
- Dredges the cutlets and thickens the gravy, helping it turn smooth and brown.
The step that matters
Browning the flour in the grease. Flour cooked in hot fat until brown develops color and a nutty flavor, and stirring it smooth before adding water prevents lumps in the gravy.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, pepper, egg, beef, flour):
- Parsleyfits better
- Turmericfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, pepper, egg, beef, flour. 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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