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Veal Loaf

A baked loaf of veal mixed with salt pork, cracker crumbs, stock, eggs, herbs, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Veal Loaf

Oven, in the book's wordsA rather hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a rather hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. Butter a flat cake tin.

Form the loaf

  1. In a large bowl, combine the veal, salt pork, cracker crumbs, 2 beaten eggs, and 1 cup of stock. Mix the mixture well with your hands.

  2. Form the mixture into a loaf and place the loaf in the tin.

  3. Beat the third egg and spread the beaten egg over the loaf.

  4. Sprinkle the loaf with dried bread crumbs.

Bake

  1. Bake for 3 hours, basting frequently with the remaining stock mixed with melted butter.

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. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Thyme + summer savorytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together214 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Marjoram + summer savorytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together125 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Marjoram + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,609 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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 loaf, giving it its meaty bulk and structure.
Salt pork
Adds fat that keeps the loaf moist and flavourful during the long bake.
Cracker crumbs
Absorb liquid and help bind the meat so the loaf holds its shape.
Eggs
Bind the mixture and set when baked, helping the loaf hold together when sliced.
Stock
Adds moisture that keeps the loaf from drying out during baking.

The step that matters

Basting during the 3-hour bake. Meat loaf dries out over long baking, so regular basting with stock and butter keeps the surface moist and helps it brown. Skipping it risks a dry, tough loaf.

Swap the thyme

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, pork, egg, bread, marjoram, summer savory, pepper):

  1. Sagefits about as well
  2. Thymethe original
  3. Parsleyfits less well
  4. Nutmegfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, pork, egg, bread, marjoram, summer savory, pepper. 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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