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Veal, Stewed

A veal purée steamed in a mold with butter, eggs, truffles, and cream, served with Bechamel or Supreme sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,015 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Veal, Stewed

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the veal

  1. Pass the veal through a meat grinder 2 or 3 times.

  2. Pound it in a mortar.

  3. Gradually add the butter, cold white sauce, and 3 egg yolks and 1 egg white, one at a time.

  4. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

  5. Rub the mixture through a fine sieve until smooth.

Add the cream and eggs

  1. Whip the cream slightly.

  2. Whisk the remaining 2 egg whites to stiff peaks.

  3. Mix lightly with the veal puree.

Mold and steam

  1. Prepare a well-buttered mold.

  2. Decorate with truffles if desired.

  3. Pour in the mixture.

  4. Cover with buttered paper.

  5. Steam gently for about 1 hour.

Serve

  1. Serve with Bechamel or Supreme sauce.

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. Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Sauce + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,787 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Butter + truffletop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,209 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  5. Nutmeg + creamtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,920 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

What each ingredient does

Veal (in the method)
Provides the main protein that sets into a smooth, tender mousse when steamed.
Eggs
Set the mixture on steaming and, with the whites, lighten its structure.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth, silky mouthfeel to the puree.
Cream
Adds moisture and lightness, keeping the steamed mousse tender.
White sauce
Adds moisture and body, helping the puree stay smooth and soft.

The step that matters

Folding in the whipped egg whites. Whites beaten to stiff peaks trap air that gives lightness. Mixing gently preserves that air; overmixing deflates it and leaves a dense result.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, truffle, pepper, sauce, cream):

  1. Nutmegthe original
  2. Tarragonfits about as well
  3. Parsleyfits about as well
  4. Capersfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, truffle, pepper, sauce, cream. 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.

More stewed veal recipes

Shoulder 25Loin 21Breast 15Fillet 10Knuckle 7Knuckle with Rice 4 See all 14 →

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