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Veal, Minced, with Macaroni

A veal and ham mixture bound with eggs and breadcrumbs, baked with macaroni and served with gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,015 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Veal, Minced, with Macaroni

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the meat mixture

  1. Mix the veal, ham, and breadcrumbs in a bowl.

  2. Add salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg to taste.

  3. Moisten the mixture with gravy and enough beaten egg to bind it together.

Line and fill the mold

  1. Boil the macaroni in salted water until tender but not broken.

  2. Arrange the macaroni at the bottom and sides of a well-buttered mold.

  3. Cut the remaining macaroni into short lengths and mix with the meat preparation.

  4. Press the mixture lightly into the mold.

Steam and serve

  1. Cover with greased paper and steam gently for 1 hour.

  2. Carefully unmold and serve with good gravy.

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. Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

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

  2. Veal + hamtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,264 recipes

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

  3. Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together24,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Ham + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,475 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  5. Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

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

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cold roast veal
Forms the main body of the loaf and gives it its meaty flavor and texture.
Ham
Adds savory, salty flavor that complements the veal.
Breadcrumbs
Absorb moisture and help the mixture hold together as it steams.
Macaroni
Adds structure and a firm, sliceable texture when cut into the meat.
Eggs
Bind the mixture so it holds its shape when unmolded.
Gravy
Moistens the mixture so the loaf stays juicy during gentle steaming.

The step that matters

Steam gently and unmold carefully. Gentle steaming sets the egg slowly so the loaf stays tender rather than tough or porous. Once set, the loaf needs time to firm up before unmolding, or it may break apart.

Swap the nutmeg

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

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Nutmegthe original
  3. Tarragonfits about as well
  4. Sagefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, ham, egg, butter, 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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