Why it works: Veal and carrot are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 3,015 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the veal
Cut out the fillet along the chine, folding the thinner side under for symmetry.
Lard the surface of the veal nicely.
On a fish slice, layer fat bacon and trimmings, then place the veal on top and tie it in the shape of a serpent.
Braise
In a kettle, combine onions, sliced carrot, cloves, peppercorns, mace, and seasoned faggots.
Add enough stock to cover the bacon and braise the fillet until cooked through.
Glaze and serve
Glaze the larding lightly and serve with a Jardinière garnish or purees.
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 + carrottop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together3,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Clove + macetop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together8,199 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
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Carrot + clovetop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together4,916 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Onion + carrottop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together21,599 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Carrot + macetop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,592 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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 meat, which turns tender and moist during slow braising.
- Fat bacon
- Lines the pan and adds fat and savoury flavour to the braising liquid and meat.
- Onions
- Add sweetness and aromatic depth to the braising liquid as they soften.
- Stock
- Provides the braising liquid that cooks the veal gently and keeps it moist.
The step that matters
Braise until cooked through. Braising at a gentle simmer under cover keeps the veal moist; too much heat toughens the proteins and dries the meat.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, carrot, clove, mace):
- Parsnipbetter flavor fit
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Turnipabout as good a flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, carrot, clove, mace. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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