Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Hashed Veal
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sauce
In a saucepan, combine veal slices and gravy.
Add lemon peel and lemon pickle.
Heat on the stove and thicken with butter and flour.
Add the veal
Once boiling, add the veal and cook until done.
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Veal + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Lemon + flourtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Veal + buttertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,381 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Main protein that becomes tender and flavourful as it cooks in the hot sauce.
- Gravy
- Supplies the liquid and savoury base of the sauce.
- Lemon peel
- Adds aromatic citrus oils and a bright, fresh flavour.
- Lemon pickle
- Adds sharp acidity and tang that balances the rich gravy.
- Butter
- Adds richness and, cooked with flour, forms a roux that thickens the sauce.
- Flour
- Starch that thickens the liquid into a smooth sauce when heated.
The step that matters
Cooking the veal once the sauce is boiling. Veal is thin and lean, so it turns dry and tough if overcooked. Adding it to the hot sauce and cooking just until done keeps the meat tender.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, butter, flour):
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Coconutfits less well
- Peachfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, butter, flour. 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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