Why it works: Veal and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,766 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Teal or Chicken and Parsley Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Season veal slices with coarse sea salt.
Scald and squeeze dry the parsley, then chop it slightly.
Lay the chopped parsley at the bottom of a baking dish.
Layer the seasoned veal on top of the parsley.
Bake and finish
Fill the dish with new milk, leaving space below the crust.
Cover the dish and bake until done.
After baking, pour out some milk and add ½ pint of scalded cream.
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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Veal + parsleytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,766 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Veal + milktop 24% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,013 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Parsley + milktop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,011 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Veal + creamtop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,202 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal
- Forms the main body of the pie and becomes tender as it cooks slowly in milk.
- Fresh parsley
- Adds a green, herbal aroma and flavour that infuses the dish.
- New milk
- Cooks gently around the veal, keeping the meat moist as it bakes.
- Scalded cream
- Adds richness and a smooth, velvety body to the finished liquid.
The step that matters
Bake until done. Veal is lean, and cooking it too long in liquid toughens its proteins and dries the meat. Check it for doneness rather than relying on time alone.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, milk, cream):
- Nutmegfits better
- Macefits better
- Celeryfits better
- Parsleythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, milk, cream. 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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