Why it works: Truffle and mushroom 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 ↓
Vol-au-Vent À LA Nesle
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make small balls of poultry force-meat using a small coffee spoon.
Dip the balls in jelly broth and drain on a napkin.
Place the balls evenly inside the vol-au-vent.
Fill the vol-au-vent with a ragout of cocks’ combs, lambs’ sweetbreads, truffles, mushrooms, lobsters’ tails, and whole brains.
Cover the filling with German sauce.
Bake until the crust is golden and the filling is heated through.
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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Truffle + mushroomtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,900 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Lobster + saucetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,095 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Lamb + mushroomtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Meat + truffletop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together527 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Meat + lambtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together469 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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