Why it works: Pepper and sage match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,388 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Veal
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the oven
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Roast the veal
Roast the veal until it is a fine brown; keep a good fire for large joints and a brisk fire for small ones.
If using a fillet or loin, cover the fat with paper to retain moisture.
Place the veal some distance from the fire until soaked, then move it closer.
Baste well with butter when you lay it down, and again when it is near enough to finish cooking.
Finish and serve
Dredge with a little flour before serving.
If roasting the breast, keep the caul on until cooked, then remove it, baste, and dredge with flour.
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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Pepper + sagetop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,388 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sage + oniontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,628 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Flour + sagetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,115 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal
- Forms the main meat that browns and cooks through over the roast.
- Butter
- Used for basting, adding moisture and helping the surface brown richly.
- Flour
- Dusted on the surface to help form a light, browned crust.
The step that matters
Placing the veal away from the fire before moving it closer. Starting the joint farther from direct heat lets it cook through gently, so the outside does not over-brown or burn before the centre is done.
Swap the sage
The recipe marks sage as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, butter, flour, pepper, onion):
- Parsleyfits about as well
- Turmericfits about as well
- Sagethe original
- Thymefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, butter, flour, pepper, onion. 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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