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Quenelles of Veal

A savory quenelle made from veal, calf udder, panada, and seasoned with herbs and mushrooms.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,737 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Quenelles of Veal

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the meats

  1. Cut veal into slices.

  2. Scrape off all the meat, discarding sinews.

  3. Boil the calf’s udder in water until done.

  4. Cool and trim the udder.

  5. Cut the udder into small pieces.

  6. Pound the pieces in a mortar until smooth.

  7. Rub the pounded udder through a sieve to create a fine mixture.

  8. Form three balls: one of udder, one of veal, and one of panada.

Make the panada

  1. Soak the crumbs of two rolls in milk for 30 minutes.

  2. Squeeze out the milk.

  3. In a stewpan, combine the soaked crumbs with béchamel and consommé.

  4. Melt butter in a pan.

  5. Fry ham, parsley, shallots, bay leaf, clove, mace, and mushrooms over low heat.

  6. Moisten the mixture with broth.

  7. Boil for 20 minutes.

  8. Strain over the panada.

  9. Reduce the panada on the fire, stirring constantly until dry.

  10. Add a small piece of butter.

  11. Let it dry further.

  12. Mix in the egg yolks.

  13. Cool the panada on a clean plate until ready to use.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Parsley + shallottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,737 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Shallot + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,677 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Parsley + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,768 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Clove + macetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  5. Sauce + shallottop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,303 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
Provides the lean meat that gives the quenelles their main body and flavour.
Calf’s udder
Adds a smooth, delicate texture once pounded and sieved finely.
Penny rolls
Their soaked crumbs form the panada that binds and lightens the mixture.
Béchamel sauce
Adds richness and moisture to the panada, helping it stay soft and creamy.
Egg yolks
Enrich the panada and help bind the mixture as it sets.

The step that matters

Reduce the panada until dry. The panada must be stirred constantly and cooked until it is dry enough to hold its shape; if it stays wet the quenelle mixture will be loose and may not set firmly when cooked.)

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, sauce, butter, ham, parsley, shallot, clove):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, sauce, butter, ham, parsley, shallot, clove. 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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