Why it works: Veal and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,049 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Veal Cutlets
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cutlets
Sprinkle pepper and salt over the veal cutlets.
Dip the cutlets in the beaten egg.
Roll the cutlets in cracker crumbs.
Fry and make the gravy
Fry the cutlets in hot drippings or lard.
Add a little boiling water to the gravy when the meat is dished.
Thicken the gravy with browned bread and boil once before serving.
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 + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,049 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Veal + eggtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,845 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + peppertop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together50,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 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 cutlets
- The main protein, which the coating and frying turn into a tender, browned dish.
- Beaten egg
- Binds the cracker crumbs to the veal so the coating adheres during frying.
- Cracker crumbs
- Forms a crisp, golden coating that browns in the hot fat.
- Hot drippings or lard
- Conducts heat to crisp and brown the coated cutlets.
- Browned bread (in the method)
- Thickens the gravy and adds a toasted flavour.
The step that matters
Fry the cutlets in hot drippings or lard. The fat must be hot enough to crisp the coating quickly. If it is too cool, the crumbs absorb grease and turn soggy while the meat overcooks.
“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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