Why it works: Lemon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Blanquette De Veau Farcie
four small molds or one large moldIngredients
Directions
Prepare the filling
In a mortar, grind the cold fillet of veal.
Season with a small amount of grated lemon peel, pepper, and coarse sea salt.
Stew the celery in broth until very white, then mince it.
Mix the minced celery with the veal and add some rich white sauce.
Mold and cook
Line one large or four small molds with slices of ham or bacon.
Fill the molds with the veal mixture and boil them.
Serve with additional white sauce.
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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Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Lemon + celerytop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,467 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Veal + hamtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,264 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Veal + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cold fillet of veal
- Forms the main body of the filling, giving the molded dish its substance.
- Rich white sauce
- Adds moisture and creaminess so the veal mixture stays tender and smooth.
- Thin slices of lean ham or bacon
- Lines the molds, adding savory flavor and a salty, smoky contrast to the veal.
- 1 stick of celery
- Adds a mild, fresh vegetal flavor and a crisp-tender texture to the filling.
The step that matters
Fill the molds with the veal mixture and boil them. Boiling must stay gentle, because a hard boil can toughen the protein in the veal and make the filling grainy. Keeping the water below a rolling boil lets the mixture set evenly and stay tender.
“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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