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Veal Loaf

A loaf of veal and pork mixed with spices, crackers, eggs, and baked.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and summer savory work together. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 671 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Veal Loaf

Oven, in the book's wordsA good oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Prepare the meat

  1. Chop the veal and pork as fine as possible.

  2. Mix the salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper into the meat.

Shape the loaf

  1. Add the pulverized crackers and eggs, then mix in the summer savory.

  2. Combine well with your hands and mold into a loaf.

Bake

  1. Place the loaf in a pan with 1 teacup of water.

  2. Add small pieces of butter on top for basting.

  3. Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 2 hours, ensuring it is not too hot.

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. Pepper + summer savorytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together671 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Veal + porktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,930 recipes

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

  3. Pork + summer savorytop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together239 recipes

    Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).

  4. Pork + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,933 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  5. Pork + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,121 recipes

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

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 body when cooked.
Fresh pork
Adds fat that keeps the loaf moist and tender as it bakes.
Eggs
Bind the meat and set during baking to hold the loaf together.
Pulverized crackers
Absorb juices and help bind the meat so the loaf stays tender.
Butter
Adds fat on top that promotes browning and enriches the surface.

The step that matters

Bake in a moderate oven. The record asks for a gentle oven, not too hot. High heat toughens meat proteins and can dry the loaf or cook the outside before the centre sets.

Swap the summer savory

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

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Sagefits better
  3. Thymefits about as well
  4. Summer savorythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, pork, pepper, egg, 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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