Why it works: Carrot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,053 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Veal Stew
Ingredients
Directions
Poach the veal
Skewer or bind down the flap of the veal.
Place the veal in cold water.
Boil gently for 2 to 2.5 hours, skimming off the scum.
Brown and stew
In a large saucepan, heat butter over moderate heat until it begins to brown.
Dredge the veal in flour.
Place the veal in the saucepan.
Pour in veal broth or boiling water to nearly half the depth of the veal.
Add carrots, onion, and parsley.
Stew the veal gently for about 1 hour.
Turn the veal and stew for another hour or until tender.
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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Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21,601 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Parsley + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,675 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal
- Provides the meat that becomes tender through long, gentle cooking as its connective tissue breaks down.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and browns to build a deeper, nutty flavor.
- Flour
- Coats the veal so it browns in the butter and helps thicken the cooking liquid.
- Carrots
- Add gentle sweetness and aroma to the stewing liquid.
- Onion
- Adds savory aroma and depth to the stewing liquid.
The step that matters
Boil gently for 2 to 2.5 hours, skimming off the scum. Gentle simmering keeps the meat tender and the liquid clear. A hard, rolling boil toughens the proteins and churns fat and scum into the broth, making it cloudy and greasy. Skimming removes the impurities that rise to the surface.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, butter, carrot, parsley, flour):
- Parsnipfits better
- Leekfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, butter, carrot, parsley, flour. 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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