Why it works: Wine and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,645 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓
Salmis De Perdreaux
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the partridges
Prepare the partridges as indicated for Matignon partridges; cook for 30 minutes.
Remove from the spit without unwrapping; let cool.
Debone the partridges by removing the thighs, wings, stomach, and tail, leaving the skin on the tail.
Place the pieces in a saucepan covered with a round of buttered paper.
Make the sauce
In another saucepan, combine the carcasses with half the mirepoix and some mushroom trimmings.
Add ½ cup of Chablis wine and bring to a boil.
Then add 1 cup of veal stock or consommé; simmer for 20 minutes, skimming and degreasing often.
Strain the mixture and reduce it by half in a clean saucepan over low heat.
Stir in 2 tablespoons of Espagnole sauce, mixing continuously with a wooden spoon to prevent sticking.
When the sauce thickens, pass it through a fine sieve into a bain-marie.
Mix one-third of the sauce with the partridge pieces to keep them warm.
Serve
Prepare and sauté 12 heart-shaped croutons in butter.
Serve the salmis by placing the tails at the bottom of the dish, then the other pieces on top.
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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Wine + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Sauce + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Wine + vealtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together698 recipes
Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).
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Veal + buttertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,381 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Veal + saucetop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,072 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (soapy, waxy).
Sauce and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Partridges
- Provide the main meat, which is cooked, boned and then gently kept warm in the sauce.
- Chablis wine
- Adds acidity and aromatic depth that balances the rich, reduced sauce.
- Veal stock or consommé
- Supplies body and savoury gelatin so the sauce becomes glossy and cohesive.
- Espagnole sauce
- Thickens the reduction and adds a deeper, roasted savoury flavour.
- Butter
- Adds richness and browning to the croutons during sautéing.
The step that matters
Stirring the sauce while it reduces. Espagnole-based sauces are thick and contain starch and proteins that scorch easily on the base of the pan. Constant stirring with a wooden spoon keeps heat even and prevents sticking and burnt flavour.
“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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