Why it works: Fennel and olive match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,344 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Pickled Veal or Turkey
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the meat
Bone the veal or turkey and bind it tightly in a cloth.
Poach the meat
Boil together the vinegar, white wine, and water with the salt.
Skim the liquid, then add the veal or turkey.
Simmer gently for 1.5 hours.
Remove the meat, reduce and skim the pickle, then let it cool.
Pickle and serve
Pour the cooled pickle over the meat still in the cloth.
Garnish with fennel branches.
Serve with a cold sauce made of vinegar, sugar, Cayenne pepper, and olive oil.
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.
-
Fennel + olivetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,344 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Fennel + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,216 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
-
White wine + fenneltop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together291 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
-
Vinegar + olivetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,297 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
-
Vinegar + white winetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,776 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal or turkey
- Provides the meat that is cooked gently and then pickled into a firm, sliceable texture.
- Vinegar
- Acidity that flavours the pickle and helps preserve the meat.
- White wine
- Adds body and aromatic depth to the cooking liquid.
- Olive oil
- Adds fat and richness to the cold sauce.
The step that matters
Simmer gently for 1.5 hours. At a rolling boil the outside of the meat toughens and dries before the centre is tender. A gentle simmer cooks the meat evenly and keeps it moist.
Swap the fennel
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, vinegar, white wine, sauce, sugar, pepper, olive):
- Tarragonfits better
- Garlicfits better
- Thymefits about as well
- Fennelthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, vinegar, white wine, sauce, sugar, pepper, olive. 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.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Veal Patties50 recipes
Beef, Mutton, or Veal Broth6 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes