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Veal Loaf

A savory loaf of finely chopped veal mixed with cracker crumbs, seasonings, and butter, baked slowly.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Summer savory and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 214 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Veal Loaf

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).

  2. In a large bowl, combine the chopped veal, cracker crumbs, summer savory, salt, pepper, stock, eggs, chopped salt pork, onion, melted butter, and thyme.

  3. Mix well and form the mixture into a loaf shape.

Bake and serve

  1. Place the loaf in a baking pan on four thin strips of salt pork.

  2. Cover the top with a layer of cracker crumbs and brush with slightly beaten egg.

  3. Bake for three hours, basting frequently with butter and hot water.

  4. Serve cold for better flavor.

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. Summer savory + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together214 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Summer savory + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together671 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Onion + thymetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,171 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Summer savory + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together299 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Veal
Forms the bulk of the loaf and gives it a firm, sliceable meaty structure.
Eggs
Bind the mixture together and help the loaf hold its shape as it sets.
Cracker crumbs
Absorb liquid and add body, helping the loaf hold together and stay tender.
Salt pork
Adds fat and savory flavor, keeping the lean veal moist as it bakes.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, and the basting helps keep the surface moist and golden.

The step that matters

Bake for three hours, basting frequently. Veal is very lean and can dry out during a long, slow bake. Frequent basting with butter and hot water adds moisture and fat to the surface while the loaf sets through.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (summer savory, pepper, veal, egg, pork, butter, thyme):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Potatofits about as well
  3. Shallotfits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against summer savory, pepper, veal, egg, pork, butter, thyme. 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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