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Galantine

A stuffed meat loaf made with force‑meat, truffles, calf's tongue, ham fat, bacon, and aromatics, simmered in wine and broth.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 20 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Galantine

Ingredients

Directions

Assemble the galantine

  1. Season the mixture with salt.

  2. Layer half of the force-meat in a dish.

  3. Add half of the truffles, calf's tongue, and fat of ham. Season lightly and cover with the remaining force-meat.

  4. Add the rest of the truffles, fat of ham, and calf's tongue, seasoning lightly again. Cover with the last of the force-meat and shape it properly.

  5. Sew it up and cover with bacon slices. Wrap in a linen cloth, tying tightly at both ends.

Braise

  1. Line a stewpan with bacon slices and place the galantine inside.

  2. Surround with onions, carrots, parsley, chives, thyme, laurel leaves, sweet basil, and cloves.

  3. Add the bones, veal knuckles, and enough jelly or broth to cover the galantine. Pour in a glass of Madeira and two tablespoons of brandy.

  4. Cover with buttered paper and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat and simmer gently for three hours.

  5. Remove from heat and let sit for an hour before carefully taking out the galantine.

Press and set

  1. Place it breast-side down on a slightly convex dish and press lightly to remove excess liquid.

  2. Cover with a lid and place a weight of eight on top.

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. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

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

  3. Carrot + thymetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Parsley + chivetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,150 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Onion + chivetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,907 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Force-meat
Forms the bulk of the galantine and sets into a firm, sliceable body as it cooks.
Truffles
Adds a concentrated earthy aroma that perfumes the force-meat through the layers.
Calf's tongue
Contributes rich, tender meat and body to the interior layers.
Fat of ham
Adds fat that keeps the force-meat moist and gives it a richer mouthfeel.
Knuckles of veal or calves' feet
Releases gelatin into the cooking liquid, helping the jelly set firmly when chilled.
Jelly or broth
Provides the cooking liquid that gently poaches the galantine and carries flavour.

The step that matters

Simmer gently rather than boil. A vigorous boil toughens the proteins in the force-meat and can break the roll apart. A gentle simmer cooks it evenly and keeps the texture tender and the shape intact.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, truffle, ham, carrot, parsley, chive, thyme):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Leekfits better
  3. Turnipfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, truffle, ham, carrot, parsley, chive, thyme. 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.

More galantine recipes

Veal 27Turkey 19Beef 17Chicken 15Fowl 10of Fowl 5 See all 12 →

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