Why it works: Thyme and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,973 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Breast or Scrag of Veal Stewed
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the veal into pieces or leave it whole. Cover it completely with water in a pot.
Add salt and pepper, then cover the pot tightly and simmer until the meat is tender.
Remove the meat and keep it warm. Strain the gravy.
In a separate pot, thicken the gravy with butter and flour.
Add a dozen force-meat balls to the gravy and boil for 10 minutes.
Pour the thickened gravy over the meat and garnish with lemon slices.
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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Thyme + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,973 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,585 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Thyme + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,171 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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, butter, flour, thyme, onion, lemon):
- Parsleyfits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Sagefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, pepper, butter, flour, thyme, onion, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
More veal stew recipes
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