Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Veal Stew
Ingredients
Directions
Make the stew
Place the veal strips in a skillet and cover with cold water.
Heat gently, ensuring the water does not boil away.
Add the sliced potato and stew for 20 to 30 minutes until the meat is tender.
Finish and serve
In a bowl, mix the flour with a little milk to create a paste.
Once the meat is tender, add the milk and flour mixture to the broth.
Season with butter, salt, pepper, and parsley if desired.
Slice the hard-boiled eggs and add them to the broth.
Bring everything to a boil and serve with or without toast.
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.
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Flour and butter 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 steak
- Provides the main meat, which becomes tender during slow stewing in water.
- Potato
- Adds body and starch to the broth as it cooks and softens.
- Eggs
- Add protein and richness, with the sliced hard-boiled whites and yolks sitting in the broth.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and mild sweetness, softening the savory broth.
- Flour
- Thickens the broth into a smoother, looser sauce when mixed into a paste with milk.
The step that matters
Mixing the flour into a paste before adding it. Flour added directly to hot liquid clumps and stays lumpy. Mixing it first with a little cold milk disperses the starch so it thickens the broth evenly.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, meat, egg, milk, flour, butter, pepper):
- Potatothe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Shallotfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, meat, egg, milk, flour, butter, pepper. 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.
More veal stew recipes
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.
Potato Croquettes255 recipes
Potato Rolls78 recipes
Potato Chips53 recipes
Sweet Potato Croquettes53 recipes