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
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 saucepan, combine the butter and flour, then add to the hot milk.
Stir the mixture until it thickens.
Combine and bake
Mix the chopped veal and mushrooms into the sauce.
Season with coarse sea salt and black pepper to taste.
Transfer the mixture to a baking pan and top with bread crumbs.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes.
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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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Mushroom + breadtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,536 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal
- Provides the main body and meaty texture of the creamed dish.
- Flour
- Thickens the milk into a smooth sauce that holds the veal and mushrooms together.
- Butter
- Adds richness and carries flavor, and forms the base of the roux with the flour.
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base of the sauce, giving it a creamy body as it thickens.
- Mushrooms
- Add earthy flavor and a soft, moist bite to the filling.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a topping that browns in the oven, adding a crisp contrast to the creamy filling.
The step that matters
Stirring the sauce until it thickens. Flour must be fully mixed into the hot milk and stirred while it heats so it thickens smoothly; if it is not stirred, lumps form and the sauce stays thin or grainy.
“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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