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Italian Soup with Poultry Quenelles

A soup made by forming poultry breast into quenelles and simmering them in stock.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,015 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Italian Soup with Poultry Quenelles

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mixture

  1. Pound the poultry breast.

  2. Mix the ground rice, egg yolk, salt, pepper, and nutmeg into the poultry.

  3. Pass the mixture through a sieve.

Form and cook

  1. Form the mixture into quenelles.

  2. Simmer the quenelles in the stock to make a soup.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

302Calories
11 gProtein
7 gFat
48 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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 + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

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

  2. Rice + nutmegtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,779 recipes

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

  3. Rice + peppertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,379 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  4. Egg + nutmegtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together24,744 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  5. Rice + eggtop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,350 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

Egg and nutmeg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Poultry breast
Provides the main protein that sets into the body of the quenelles when cooked.
Ground rice
Absorbs moisture and helps bind the mixture so the quenelles hold their shape.
Egg yolk
Binds the mixture and adds richness and a smooth, tender texture.

The step that matters

Simmer the quenelles gently. Proteins in the poultry and egg yolk set as they heat. A gentle simmer lets them firm up slowly, so the delicate quenelles hold together instead of breaking apart or turning tough.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, egg, pepper):

  1. Turmericfits better
  2. Parsleyfits about as well
  3. Nutmegthe original
  4. Dillfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against rice, egg, pepper. 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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