Why it works: Mace and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
Veal Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Season the veal with coarse sea salt and black pepper.
Optionally, add slices of bacon or ham.
For a richer flavor, mix in mace, Cayenne, nutmeg, forcemeat, and eggs.
If desired, include truffles, morels, mushrooms, sweetbreads, and blanched cocks’ combs.
Bake the pie and pour in rich gravy before serving.
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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Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,557 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Truffle + mushroomtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,900 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Veal + truffletop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together815 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Pepper + mushroomtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, pepper, ham, nutmeg, egg, truffle, mushroom):
- Marjoramfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Thymefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, pepper, ham, nutmeg, egg, truffle, mushroom. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
More veal pie recipes
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