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Veal Cake

A baked veal and ham cake topped with a gravy made from veal, isinglass, and catsup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,737 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Veal Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Butter a mold.

  2. Layer thin slices of veal and ham in the mold.

Season and bake

  1. Season with cayenne, coarse sea salt, beaten mace, parsley, and shallot.

  2. Add slices of hard-boiled eggs and press down.

  3. Bake until set.

Make the gravy and serve

  1. Make veal gravy with shreds of isinglass, strain it, and mix in catsup.

  2. Pour the hot gravy over the cake.

  3. Let it cool, then turn it out.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Parsley + shallottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,737 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Pepper + shallottop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,898 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Mace + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,268 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  5. Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

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 cake and gives it its meaty flavor and texture.
Isinglass
Gelatin-like setting agent that firms the gravy so it holds the cake together when cooled.
Hard-boiled eggs
Add firm pieces and a mild, rich body that holds their shape within the set cake.
Ham
Adds salty, savory flavor that seasons the layers of veal.

The step that matters

Let it cool, then turn it out. Isinglass sets as the gravy cools, so the cake must cool fully before unmolding or it may collapse or tear. Gelatin-type setting depends on temperature, so rushing this step risks a loose, broken cake.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, veal, ham, pepper, parsley, shallot, egg):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, veal, ham, pepper, parsley, shallot, egg. 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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