Why it works: Veal and pork are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,930 recipes. Both carry 4-heptenal, which smells creamy, biscuit. The science ↓
Veal Pie
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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the filling
In a large bowl, mix the veal, chopped salt pork, bread crumbs, eggs, salt, pepper, and herbs until thoroughly combined.
Bake and serve
Transfer the mixture to a pie dish and bake until cooked through.
Serve cold as a relish.
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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Veal + porktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,930 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Pork + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,371 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Pork + coffeetop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together220 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Pork + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,121 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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 pie, providing the meaty texture and bulk of the dish.
- Salt pork
- Adds fat and richness, keeping the lean veal moist during baking.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb juices and help bind the mixture so it holds together when cooked.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set during baking, giving the pie a firm, sliceable structure.
The step that matters
Baking until cooked through. Raw ground or minced veal can harbour harmful bacteria, so the centre must reach a safe internal temperature. Stopping early leaves the eggs and meat underset and the texture soft and wet.
“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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