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Fricandeau of Veal

A veal fricandeau larded with bacon, simmered in stock with carrot and onion.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,555 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Fricandeau of Veal

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the veal

  1. Lard one side of the veal fillet with bacon and cut into fillets no more than ¼ inch thick.

Braise

  1. In a clean stewpan, combine veal trimmings, butter, carrot, onion, pepper, and salt.

  2. Lay the veal on top and add ½ pint of stock.

  3. Once thick and gelatinous, turn the fricandeau over and add 1 pint of stock.

  4. Simmer for 1 hour, basting frequently by shaking the stewpan.

  5. Skim off the fat when cooked, place the fricandeau on a dish, and strain the liquor over it.

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. Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Veal + carrottop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,015 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Veal fillet
Forms the main body of the dish, becoming tender and succulent during slow simmering.
Stock
Provides liquid for slow braising and, reduced, forms the gelatinous glaze and sauce.
Butter
Adds richness and fat that carries flavour and helps the veal brown gently.
Bacon
Adds fat and savoury flavour carried through the lardons into the lean veal.

The step that matters

Turning the fricandeau once it is thick and gelatinous. Turning too early, before the stock has reduced to a thick, sticky glaze, can tear the delicate veal and leave it pale rather than glossy. Gelatin released from the meat and bones sets as the liquid reduces, which is what gives the glaze its body.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, butter, carrot, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Potatofits about as well
  3. Parsnipfits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, butter, carrot, pepper. 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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