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Breast of Veal En Galantine

A veal breast rolled with forcemeat, ham, pickled cucumbers, bacon, and eggs, braised and glazed.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Veal and ham are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,264 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Breast of Veal En Galantine

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the roll

  1. Spread a light forcemeat over the boned veal.

  2. Layer slices of lean ham, pickled cucumbers, fat bacon, and omelets made from the egg whites and yolks on top.

  3. Roll the veal tightly in a cloth and tie each end.

Braise and set

  1. Braise the rolled veal until tender.

  2. Remove from the cloth, wipe dry, and glaze the top.

  3. Let it cool.

  4. Press it.

Serve

  1. Serve with stewed sorrel, stewed celery heads, or ragout.

  2. Serve with finely chopped savory jelly.

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. Veal + hamtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,264 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Veal + cucumbertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together439 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  4. Cucumber + eggtop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,346 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Ham + cucumbertop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together214 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Boned breast of veal
Forms the wrapped outer layer that becomes tender through long, moist braising.
Eggs
Set into omelets that add structure and a firm, sliceable layer inside the roll.
Light forcemeat
Binds the filling and adds a soft, moist texture around the other layers.
Lean ham
Adds savory flavour and a contrasting colour to the sliced interior.
Fat bacon
Contributes fat that keeps the lean meat moist and adds savoury flavour as it cooks.

The step that matters

Roll the veal tightly in a cloth and tie each end.. A tight, even roll keeps the layers together so the slices hold their shape after cooking and pressing. Loose wrapping lets the filling shift and leaves gaps or uneven slices.

Swap the cucumber

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

  1. Asparagusfits better
  2. Leekfits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Cucumberthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, ham, 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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