Name: French Forcemeat Called Quenelles
Ingredients: 4 ounces finely-grained white veal; 2 ounces stale bread crumb; 2 ounces butter or boiled calf's udder; veal gravy or white sauce

Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

French Forcemeat Called Quenelles

Ingredients

4 ounces finely-grained white veal
2 ounces stale bread crumb
2 ounces butter or boiled calf's udder
veal gravy or white sauce

Directions

Remove fat and skin from the veal and rasp it free from sinew.
Chop and pound the veal until it forms a fine paste.
Soak the bread crumb in veal gravy or white sauce.
Press and drain the soaked bread to remove moisture.
Stir the bread mixture over gentle heat until it forms a dry ball.
Combine the veal paste, bread mixture, and butter or calf's udder in equal volumes.

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.

Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Veal + breadtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,056 recipes

Shared aroma: cis-3-hexenol (green, grassy).
Veal + buttertop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,381 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).