Why it works: Lemon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Minced Veal
Ingredients
Directions
Simmer the ham, lemon peel, carrot, and onion in the stock for 2-3 hours.
Strain the mixture into a basin and let it cool.
Remove all the fat from the cooled stock.
Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute.
Add the stock and bring to a boil, skimming off any fat if necessary.
Let it cool slightly, then stir in the minced veal.
Gently simmer until the meat is warmed through.
Add a spoonful of cream if desired and serve with toasted or fried bread.
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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Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,555 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21,601 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Lemon + carrottop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,351 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, ham, carrot, onion, cream, pepper):
- Avocadofits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Limefits about as well
- Coconutfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, ham, carrot, onion, cream, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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