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Turkey A-LA-daube

A stuffed turkey cooked with ham, forcemeat, broth, and herbs, then set in a clear jelly.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Turkey A-LA-daube

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the turkey

  1. Season the boned turkey with pepper and coarse sea salt.

  2. Spread diced ham and forcemeat over the turkey.

  3. Place a boned and seasoned fowl on top, followed by more ham and forcemeat.

  4. Sew the turkey up with thread.

  5. Cover the bottom of a pan with veal and ham, then place the turkey in with the bread side down.

  6. Chop the bones into pieces and add them to the turkey.

Cook in broth

  1. Cover the pan and heat for five minutes.

  2. Add enough clear broth to cover the turkey and boil for two hours.

  3. When halfway done, add isinglass and a bundle of herbs.

  4. Once cooked, remove the turkey and strain the jelly through a fine sieve.

  5. Skim off the fat and let the jelly cool.

Set and serve

  1. Place the turkey on the jelly with the bread side down and cover with the remaining jelly.

  2. Let it set in a cool place.

  3. To serve, turn the turkey onto the serving dish and optionally spread butter on the bread, garnishing with parsley or flowers.

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Turkey + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,592 recipes

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

  3. Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together28,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  4. Turkey + hamtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together303 recipes

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

  5. Turkey + peppertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,636 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

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

What each ingredient does

Boned turkey
Forms the main body of the dish and carries the stuffing layers.
Forcemeat
Adds a moist, tender filling that cooks through the bird.
Isinglass
Gelatin-like agent that helps the strained broth set into a firm jelly.
Clear broth
Cooks the turkey gently and becomes the jelly that sets around it.
Veal
Adds savory meaty flavor to the base of the pan and the broth.

The step that matters

Straining and cooling the jelly. The jelly must be fully skimmed of fat and cooled before the turkey is covered, so it sets clear and firm rather than greasy or loose. Isinglass only gels properly once the liquid cools.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (turkey, pepper, ham, veal, butter):

  1. Sagefits about as well
  2. Thymefits about as well
  3. Parsleythe original
  4. Celeryfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against turkey, pepper, ham, veal, butter. 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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