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To Fricassee a Breast of Veal

A veal fricassee made by simmering veal with butter, water, onion, celery, white pepper, and salt, then thickening the stock.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,518 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

To Fricassee a Breast of Veal

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut a handsome piece of veal.

  2. In a stewpan, melt butter and add veal.

Braise

  1. Add water, onion, celery, white pepper, and salt.

  2. Let it simmer gently until tender.

  3. Remove any skin from the veal.

Finish and serve

  1. Thicken part of the stock with roux, cream, or flour and butter.

  2. Cover the veal with the sauce and serve.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Celery + white peppertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together853 recipes

    Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).

  4. Veal + oniontop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,841 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Veal + celerytop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,336 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Veal
Main protein; slow, gentle simmering breaks down connective tissue so the meat becomes tender.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and carries flavor as the veal begins to cook.
Onion
Adds aromatic sweetness and depth to the simmering stock.
Celery
Adds a fresh, savory aroma to the stock.

The step that matters

Let it simmer gently until tender. At a hard boil, muscle fibers tighten and the meat turns tough and dry, and the stock becomes cloudy. A gentle simmer lets collagen slowly soften into tender meat and a clear, flavorful liquid.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, butter, onion, celery):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, butter, onion, celery. 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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