Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Collared Veal
Ingredients
Directions
Remove bones and gristle from the veal.
Season the meat with chopped herbs, mace, pepper, and coarse sea salt.
Layer smoked tongue, beetroot, chopped parsley, and hard-boiled egg yolks between the veal slices.
Roll the veal tightly in a cloth.
Simmer for several hours until tender.
Place a weight on the rolled veal to press out the liquid.
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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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Beetroot + parsleytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together745 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Pepper + beetroottop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,682 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mace + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,268 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Mace + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,257 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Mace and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,257 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
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, pepper, beetroot, parsley, egg):
- Tarragonfits better
- Capersfits better
- Dillfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, pepper, beetroot, parsley, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
More collared veal recipes
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