Why it works: Veal and ham are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and 3,264 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Veal and Ham Cutlets, and Piquant Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Trim the flank part of the veal fillet and cut it into cutlets.
Cut the ham into the same shape as the veal cutlets.
Fry
Fry the ham first, then remove some fat from the pan.
Fry the veal cutlets in the remaining fat until nicely browned.
Serve
Arrange the veal cutlets on a dish with a ham cutlet between each veal cutlet.
Pour the piquant sauce in the middle of the dish.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Veal + hamtop 15% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together3,264 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
- Veal fillet
- Forms the main meaty cutlets, providing the tender body of the dish.
- Ham
- Adds savory, salty flavor and fat that enriches the frying pan for browning the veal.
The step that matters
Fry the veal cutlets in the remaining fat until nicely browned. Browning relies on the Maillard reaction at high surface heat. Veal is lean and dries out quickly, so frying it in the ham fat over steady heat, without overcooking, keeps the cutlets juicy while gaining color and flavor.
“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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