Why it works: Veal and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,049 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Veal Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Season the veal pieces with salt and pepper and place them in a dish.
Add the hard-boiled egg yolks in different places within the dish.
Pour in enough water to nearly fill the dish.
Bake and serve
Cover with puff pastry and bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Remove the lid, cut the pie into 8 to 10 pieces, and arrange them around the rim of the dish.
Garnish with slices of lemon and serve hot.
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.
-
Veal + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,049 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Veal + eggtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,845 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Pepper + eggtop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together50,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Pepper and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 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 breast
- Forms the main body of the pie; slow, covered cooking in water keeps the meat tender and moist.
- Hard-boiled egg yolks
- Add richness and a soft, creamy texture to the filling.
- Puff pastry
- Forms a flaky, golden lid that browns in the hot oven and seals in the filling.
The step that matters
Covering the dish and baking until the veal is cooked through. The pastry lid traps steam so the veal simmers in the water. Removing the lid too early can leave the meat undercooked and tough, so the full baking time matters.
“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.
More veal pie recipes
You might also like
Veal Patties50 recipes
Beef, Mutton, or Veal Broth6 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.