Name: Croustade of Quails Au Gratin
Ingredients: 7 large quails, boned; fine force-meat; coarse sea salt; nutmeg; larded bacon slices; butter; ragout of cocks' combs and stones; truffles or mushrooms; small fillets of pullet a la conti

Why it works: Butter and truffle are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,209 recipes. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓

Croustade of Quails Au Gratin

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 croustade

Make a croustade with 7 flutes, 2 inches high and 7.5 inches in diameter.
Fill the inside of the croustade with fine force-meat.

Prepare the quails

Glaze the quails lightly.
Season the quails with salt and nutmeg.
Stuff each quail with a little force-meat.
Roll the stuffed quails into balls.
Place one quail ball in each flute.
Fill the center of the croustade with force-meat.
Insert a preserved claw into each quail.

Bake and serve

Cover the sides and top of the croustade with larded bacon.
Wrap the croustade in paper.
Place buttered paper on top.
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 1 hour until firm to the touch.
Remove bacon and force-meat from the center before serving.
Pour ragout into the center of the quails.
Glaze the quails and sides of the croustade.
Top each quail with a small fillet.
Arrange the quails in a circular form.
Place a small round truffle in the center.

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.

Butter + truffletop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,209 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Meat + truffletop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together527 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Quail + truffletop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together91 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
Quail + meattop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together48 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Nutmeg + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together24,377 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Quails: Provide the main cooked meat, which firms as it bakes inside the croustade.
Fine force-meat: Adds a moist, tender stuffing that keeps the quail and centre from drying out.
Larded bacon slices: Fat that bastes the birds and croustade as they cook, adding moisture and savoury flavour.
Butter: Adds fat for richness and helps the glaze brown the surface.
Truffles or mushrooms: Contribute earthy aroma and savoury depth to the finished dish.

The step that matters

Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 1 hour until firm to the touch. Baking the quail-and-force-meat mass long enough sets the proteins so it firms, while overcooking dries the meat. Covering with bacon and paper slows surface drying, so doneness is best judged by firmness in the centre.