Why it works: Sorrel and asparagus match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Neck of Veal Larded
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the veal
Remove the underbone from the neck of veal, leaving part of the long bones.
Trim the veal neatly and roast it gently with veal caul over it.
Roast and serve
Ten minutes before it is done, remove the caul to achieve a light color.
Before serving, glaze the veal and serve it with sorrel sauce, celery heads, or asparagus tops.
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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Sorrel + asparagustop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together122 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Sorrel + celerytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together212 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Celery + asparagustop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together378 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
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Veal + celerytop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,336 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sorrel + saucetop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together158 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal caul
- Its fat bastes the meat as it roasts, keeping it moist and tender.
- Veal neck
- The main cut, whose connective tissue softens during gentle roasting for a tender result.
The step that matters
Removing the caul ten minutes before the end. Removing the caul late lets the surface brown lightly and take on color. Removing it too early leaves the meat pale, while leaving it on too long prevents that browning from developing.
Swap the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, sorrel, sauce, asparagus):
- Capersfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Parsleyfits about as well
- Celerythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, sorrel, sauce, asparagus. 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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