Why it works: Carrot and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,873 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓
Veal a LA Bourgeoise
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Lard the veal.
Brown and braise the veal
Place the veal in a clean stewpan with the bacon.
Brown the veal lightly on both sides.
Sprinkle with a little salt.
Wait until the meat begins to stick.
Add the stock.
Cover and simmer for 40 minutes.
Add the vegetables
Prepare the button onions and carrot pieces.
Remove the onion and bouquet garni.
Add the button onions and carrot.
If needed, add more stock or hot water.
Cover and simmer for another 30 to 40 minutes.
Serve
Carefully transfer the veal to a hot dish.
Arrange the vegetables around the veal and pour the gravy over it.
If the gravy is too thin, reduce it by boiling and stirring.
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.
-
Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,873 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
-
Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21,601 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Onion + clovetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,901 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
-
Veal + carrottop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Veal + oniontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,841 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fillet of veal
- The main cut; slow simmering turns its connective tissue tender and moist.
- Bacon fat
- Adds fat and savoury flavour, and helps the veal brown in the pan.
- Stock
- Forms the liquid that cooks the veal and becomes the gravy.
- Button onions
- Soften during simmering, adding sweetness and body to the gravy.
- Carrot
- Adds natural sweetness and colour, and holds its shape during simmering.
The step that matters
Browning the veal before adding stock. Searing until the meat sticks to the pan builds browned flavour compounds and fond. Adding stock too early stops browning and leaves the gravy pale and flat.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, onion, carrot):
- Celeryfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Cuminfits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, onion, carrot. 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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