Why it works: Meat and chicken are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,449 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓
Chicken Puree
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Powder the yolk of a hard-boiled egg using a silver spoon.
Wet the powdered cracker with enough cold milk to moisten it thoroughly.
Make the puree
Mix the moistened cracker with the egg yolk and add the chopped chicken.
Stir in the hot cream.
Combine the mixture with the hot chicken broth and boil for two minutes, adding more broth if it is too thick.
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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Meat + chickentop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,449 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Milk + chickentop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,389 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).
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Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,399 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + meattop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,703 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolk
- Adds richness and body, helping the puree hold together as it thickens.
- Powdered cracker
- Absorbs liquid and thickens the mixture, giving it a smooth, body-filled texture.
- Chicken
- Provides the main flavor and the substance of the puree.
- Hot cream
- Adds fat and richness, softening flavor and smoothing the texture.
- Chicken broth
- Supplies liquid and savory flavor, adjusting the thickness of the puree.
The step that matters
Adding the hot chicken broth and boiling. Starch from the cracker thickens as it heats, so the mixture can become too thick or stick if boiled unattended. Adding broth gradually and checking the consistency keeps the texture smooth and pourable.
“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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