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Vol-au-Vent a LA Nesle

A pastry case filled with a ragout of poultry force-meat, cocks’ combs, sweetbreads, truffles, mushrooms, lobster tails, brains, and German sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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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 a LA Nesle

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

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.

Prepare the filling

  1. Make small balls of poultry force-meat using a small coffee spoon.

  2. Dip the balls in jelly broth and drain them on a napkin.

  3. Place the balls evenly in the vol-au-vent.

Assemble and bake

  1. Fill the vol-au-vent with a ragout of cocks’ combs, lambs' sweetbreads, truffles, mushrooms, lobster tails, and whole brains.

  2. Cover the entire mixture with German sauce.

  3. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until the crust is a fine reddish color.

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. Truffle + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,900 recipes

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

  2. Lobster + saucetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,095 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Lamb + mushroomtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together450 recipes

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

  4. Meat + truffletop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together527 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  5. Meat + lambtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together469 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Poultry force-meat
Forms small delicate balls that give the filling a light, tender texture.
Lambs' sweetbreads
Adds a soft, creamy texture to the ragout.
Truffles
Contributes a deep, earthy aroma to the filling.
Mushrooms
Adds moisture and savory, earthy flavor to the ragout.
Lobster tails
Adds rich, sweet seafood flavor and tender meat to the ragout.
German sauce
Moistens the filling and covers it, helping it stay rich under the crust.

The step that matters

Baking until the crust is reddish. The crust browns through the Maillard reaction at oven heat. Too little heat leaves it pale and soft, while too much can scorch it before the filling heats through.

“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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