Why it works: Mace and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
To Pot Veal
Ingredients
Directions
Chop the white part of a dressed fillet of veal, removing skin and gristle.
In a marble mortar, combine veal, warmed butter, white pepper, mace, nutmeg, and salt.
If using, pound some cold ham and add it without salt or butter.
Layer veal and ham in a potting pot until full.
Pour clarified butter over the top.
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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Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,557 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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White pepper + macetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,695 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
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White pepper + nutmegtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,375 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Veal + hamtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,264 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the white pepper
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, butter, mace, nutmeg, ham):
- Clovefits better
- Cinnamonfits better
- Allspicefits better
- White pepperthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, butter, mace, nutmeg, ham. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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