Why it works: Butter and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 28,563 recipes. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓
Veal Cutlets
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Flatten the veal cutlets and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
Dip the cutlets in melted butter.
Cook and serve
Grill the cutlets over a hot fire, turning quickly to prevent the butter from dripping.
Cook until well done and nicely colored.
Serve on gravy and garnish with parsley.
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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Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Veal + parsleytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,766 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Veal + buttertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,381 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal cutlets
- Form the main body of the dish, cooking to a firm, tender texture when grilled.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat and richness, and helps the cutlets brown while grilling.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the veal directly on the surface before cooking.
The step that matters
Turning the cutlets quickly over a hot fire. Frequent turning keeps the butter from dripping away and spreads heat evenly, so the surface browns without drying the thin cutlets. Letting them sit too long on one side risks scorching while the centre lags behind.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, butter):
- Sagefits about as well
- Parsleythe original
- Capersfits about as well
- Nutmegfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, butter. 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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