Why it works: Ham and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,536 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓
Blanquette De Veau En Casserole Au Riz
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very hot oven”. The 400°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the filling
Combine the veal and béchamel sauce in a stewpan and keep warm.
Make the rice casserole
Stew the rice in consommé for 2-3 hours with diced ham until it forms a stiff paste; if too stiff, add more consommé.
Cut the bread to create a flat top and bottom so it can stand on a dish.
Spoon the rice around and over the bread, smoothing it with a knife.
Bake in a very hot oven (400 °F / 200 °C) until golden brown.
Serve
Remove a few minutes before serving and cut out the bread.
Pour the hot blanquette of veal into the center and serve.
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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Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,536 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Rice + breadtop 13% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,259 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Veal + hamtop 15% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together3,264 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Veal + breadtop 17% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together3,056 recipes
Shared aroma: cis-3-hexenol (green, grassy).
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Rice + hamtop 17% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together477 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal
- Provides the tender meat that forms the blanquette filling.
- Béchamel sauce
- Adds creamy richness and moisture to the veal filling.
- Rice
- Stews into a stiff paste that holds its shape around the bread.
- Consommé
- Liquid that cooks the rice until it softens and binds into a paste.
- Lean ham
- Adds savoury flavour to the rice paste.
The step that matters
Stewing the rice to a stiff paste. Rice must absorb liquid slowly over a long simmer to soften fully and bind. Too little liquid leaves it hard, and too much makes it loose, so it will not hold its shape around the bread.
“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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