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Veal Croquettes

Veal croquettes are oval-shaped fried balls made from mashed potatoes, veal, ham, and seasonings, coated in egg and cracker crumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Veal Croquettes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mixture

  1. Combine mashed potatoes, butter, egg yolks, chopped onion, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Mix in the cold chopped veal and cold ham.

  2. Moisten the mixture with a little cream and shape it into oval balls.

Coat and fry

  1. Dip each ball in egg, then coat with grated cracker.

  2. Fry the croquettes in hot oil until golden brown.

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.

  1. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Mashed potatoes
Provides bulk and a soft, tender body that holds the croquette together.
Egg yolks
Bind the mixture so the croquettes hold their shape when cooked.
Veal
Forms the main meat filling, giving the croquettes their savory flavor and chew.
Ham
Adds salty, smoky flavor to the meat filling.
Butter
Adds richness and flavor to the potato base.
Egg
Creates a sticky coating that helps the cracker crumbs adhere before frying.

The step that matters

Frying the croquettes in hot oil. If the oil is not hot enough, the coating absorbs oil and turns greasy, and the croquettes can fall apart. Hot oil quickly sets the crust and browns the surface while the filling heats through.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, butter, egg, pepper, veal, ham, cream):

  1. Asparagusfits about as well
  2. Onionthe original
  3. Leekfits about as well
  4. Chivefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, butter, egg, pepper, veal, ham, cream. 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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