Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Cannelon a LA Royale
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the roll
Pass the veal through a mincing machine twice.
Add the minced ham, pepper, salt, parsley, shallot, lemon peel, and nutmeg, and mix well.
Add the beaten eggs.
Shape the mixture into a roll.
Wrap the roll in greased Soyer paper.
Place the roll in a bag.
Cook the roll
Cook in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 25 minutes.
Carefully remove the roll from the bag.
Unroll the roll onto a hot dish.
Make the sauce
Rub the tomatoes through a sieve into a saucepan.
Add pepper, salt, sugar, vinegar, and onion juice or garlic to the sauce.
Heat the sauce until hot and reduce slightly.
Optionally add cooking port and butter to enhance the sauce.
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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Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Parsley + shallottop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,737 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Parsley + nutmegtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,062 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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 roll, giving it a firm, sliceable texture.
- Eggs
- Set when heated, binding the minced meat so the roll holds its shape.
- Ham
- Adds savoury, salty flavour throughout the minced filling.
- Ripe tomatoes
- Provide the body and bright acidity of the sauce.
The step that matters
Shape and wrap the roll firmly before cooking. The beaten eggs set as the roll heats, binding the minced veal and ham. A loose or unevenly packed roll may crack or fall apart when it is unwrapped and unrolled onto the dish.
Swap the shallot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, ham, pepper, parsley, lemon, nutmeg, egg):
- Shallotthe original
- Carrotfits about as well
- Spinachfits about as well
- Capsicumfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, ham, pepper, parsley, lemon, nutmeg, egg. 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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