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Galantine of Duckling, Pear-shaped

A roasted duckling shaped like a pear, stuffed with galantine forcemeat, sweetbreads, mushrooms, truffles, veal udder, and served with sauce and garnish.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 17 ingredients
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Why it works: Mushroom and truffle are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,900 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Galantine of Duckling, Pear-shaped

Oven, in the book's wordsA slack oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slack oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the duckling

  1. Bone the duckling, leaving one leg attached.

  2. Season the inside with salt and pepper.

  3. Fill the duckling with a mixture of pounded galantine forcemeat and half as much baking forcemeat, along with sweetbreads, mushrooms, truffles, and veal udder.

  4. Restore the duckling to its original shape and sew it up.

Braise and set

  1. Mold it in a bottomless pear-shaped mold.

  2. Braise in mirepoix stock for 1.5 hours in a 300°F (150°C) oven, basting frequently.

  3. Drain and cool under weight on a buttered baking sheet.

Glaze and decorate

  1. Glaze with light green chaudfroid sauce.

  2. Rub one side with wadding dusted with carmine and coat with half-set jelly.

  3. Insert a pear-stalk and decorate with leaves, chopped jelly, and croutons when serving.

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. Mushroom + truffletop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,900 recipes

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

  2. Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

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

  3. Truffle + vealtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together815 recipes

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

  4. Truffle + buttertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,209 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  5. Pepper + mushroomtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,580 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Duckling
Forms the main body of the galantine and supplies the meat that is braised and served.
Galantine forcemeat
Provides a fine, moist, tender stuffing that holds together when sliced.
Baking forcemeat
Adds a firmer, binding stuffing that helps the filling hold its shape.
Sweetbreads
Contribute a soft, rich texture to the filling.
Truffles
Add a deep, earthy aroma to the filling.

The step that matters

Braise gently and baste frequently. Low oven heat cooks the duckling slowly so the meat becomes tender without drying out, and frequent basting keeps the surface moist and prevents the skin from toughening.

Swap the pear

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, lamb, mushroom, truffle, veal, butter, sauce):

  1. Lemonfits better
  2. Plumfits better
  3. Limefits better
  4. Pearthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, lamb, mushroom, truffle, veal, butter, sauce. 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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