Why it works: Lemon and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Veal Patties
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the pastry
Make puff pastry and chill it until firm.
Roll out the pastry to ½ inch thick and cut into 3-inch rounds.
Use a smaller cutter to cut two-thirds through each round.
Place rounds in pans and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 10 minutes.
Reduce heat and bake for another 20 minutes.
Make the filling
In a saucepan, combine veal, white sauce, and lemon juice; heat until boiling.
Assemble and serve
Remove baked pastry from the oven.
Scoop out the uncooked paste.
Fill the pastry with the veal mixture.
Replace the tops.
Garnish with fried parsley before serving.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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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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Parsley + nutmegtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,062 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal
- Provides the savory, meaty filling that forms the body of the patty.
- White sauce
- Adds moisture and creaminess, keeping the veal filling soft rather than dry.
- Puff pastry
- Its layered dough puffs and crisps in the oven to form the hollow shell.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich veal and white sauce.
The step that matters
Cutting two-thirds through each round. Cutting only partway through lets the pastry rise into a tall, hollow shell while the lid stays separate. Cutting too deep can split the pastry, and cutting too shallow can leave the top from lifting cleanly, so the cut controls how the case rises and how the lid fits.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, sauce, lemon, parsley, pepper):
- Marjoramfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Thymefits better
- Nutmegthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, sauce, lemon, parsley, pepper. 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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