Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Scotch Collops
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the veal
Flatten the veal bits with a rolling pin and sprinkle with nutmeg.
Dip the veal into the egg yolk and fry in butter until golden brown.
Remove the veal and pour off excess butter.
Make the sauce
In a separate pan, mix gravy, flour rubbed with butter, egg yolk, cream, and salt.
Stir the sauce until it thickens, but do not boil.
Serve
Serve the sauce warm over the collops.
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.
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + nutmegtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,920 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal
- Thin pieces that cook quickly and take on a golden crust when fried in butter.
- Egg yolk
- Enriches the sauce and helps it thicken smoothly as it heats.
- Butter
- Fat for frying that browns the veal and adds rich flavor.
- Flour
- Thickens the gravy into a sauce when cooked with the butter.
- Cream
- Adds richness and body to the sauce.
The step that matters
Stir the sauce until it thickens, but do not boil. Egg yolk thickens by gentle heat; boiling can curdle or scramble it, leaving the sauce grainy instead of smooth and creamy.
“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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