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Veal Loaf with Tomato Sauce

A veal loaf baked with a tomato sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 20 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and 81,283 recipes mention both. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Veal Loaf with Tomato Sauce

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the loaf

  1. Grind the veal and fat salt pork together twice.

  2. Season with salt, white pepper, sweet herbs, and lemon juice.

  3. Add rolled soda crackers, beaten eggs (reserve 2 tablespoons), butter, and milk, and mix thoroughly.

  4. Shape into a loaf to fit a baking pan.

  5. Brush with reserved egg, roll in cracker crumbs.

  6. Place in the pan with hot water and 1 teaspoon of butter for basting.

Bake

  1. Baste often.

  2. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 2 hours.

Make the sauce

  1. Simmer tomatoes, onion, parsley, and bay leaf for 10 minutes.

  2. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and mix with flour.

  3. Press the tomato mixture through a sieve.

  4. Add the butter and flour mixture to the strained tomatoes.

  5. Boil once.

  6. Season with salt and pepper.

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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Pork + tomatotop 10% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together4,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Lemon + tomatotop 11% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together4,592 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  4. Veal + porktop 11% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together4,930 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  5. Pork + milktop 12% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together4,386 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Veal
Forms the main body of the loaf and gives it a mild, tender meaty texture.
Fat salt pork
Adds fat and moisture so the lean veal stays juicy while baking.
Eggs
Bind the mixture so the loaf holds its shape when sliced.
Rolled soda crackers
Absorb liquid and add body, keeping the loaf moist and light.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture to the loaf and helps the sauce become smooth.
Flour
Thickens the strained tomato sauce to a smooth, cohesive consistency.

The step that matters

Press the tomato mixture through a sieve. Straining removes seeds and fibrous pulp so the sauce turns smooth; pressing forces the softened tomato through the mesh while leaving the coarse solids behind.

Flavor stand-ins for the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, pork, lemon, egg, butter, milk, tomato):

  1. Thymebetter flavor fit
  2. Parsleybetter flavor fit
  3. Tarragonbetter flavor fit
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, pork, lemon, egg, butter, milk, tomato. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“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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