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Dessert

Cailles Aux Fines Herbes En Caisse

A quail cooked with fine herbs, Madeira wine, and Espagnole sauce, wrapped in paper and bacon.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 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 3,737 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Cailles Aux Fines Herbes En Caisse

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the quail

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. In a pan, melt the butter and brown the quails.

  3. Add the parsley, mushrooms, truffles, and shallots; sauté until softened.

  4. Pour in the Madeira wine and cover the quails with the herb mixture.

  5. Cook for 20 minutes, turning occasionally.

  6. Drain and degrease the quails.

Assemble the parcels

  1. Mix the remaining herbs with the Espagnole sauce.

  2. Prepare a greased paper casing and place the quails inside, leaving a well in the center.

  3. Cover with bacon strips and a round of buttered paper.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake for 30 minutes, wrapped in double paper.

  2. Remove from the oven, take off the paper and bacon, and degrease.

  3. Place a slice of mushroom in the center of the quails and serve with sauce.

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. Parsley + shallottop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together3,737 recipes

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

  2. Mushroom + shallottop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together1,982 recipes

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

  3. Mushroom + truffletop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together1,900 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  4. Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  5. Butter + truffletop 11% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together2,209 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Quails
The main protein, which becomes tender as it cooks gently in the wine and herb mixture.
Butter
Adds fat for browning the quails and a rich, nutty flavor.
Mushrooms
Add moisture and an earthy aroma as they soften in the pan.
Truffles
Contribute a concentrated, earthy aroma to the herb mixture.
Madeira wine
Adds sweetness and depth as it cooks down with the quails.
Espagnole sauce
Gives the dish a savory, thickened sauce with body and richness.

The step that matters

Drain and degrease the quails. Excess fat left from browning would make the sauce greasy and the paper parcel soggy. Removing it before baking keeps the sauce clean and lets its flavor come through.

Flavor stand-ins for the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (quail, butter, mushroom, truffle, shallot, madeira wine, sauce):

  1. Capersbetter flavor fit
  2. Thymeabout as good a flavor fit
  3. Tarragonabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Parsleythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against quail, butter, mushroom, truffle, shallot, madeira wine, sauce. 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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