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Broad Beans a LA Poulette

A stew of broad beans cooked with stock, herbs, cream, and egg yolk.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Isabella Beeton · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper 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 ↓

Broad Beans a LA Poulette

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the beans

  1. Shell the beans and boil them until nearly done.

  2. If the beans are very large, remove the skins before boiling.

Stew and finish

  1. Drain the beans and place them in a stewpan with the stock, finely minced herbs, and sugar.

  2. Stew the beans until perfectly tender and the liquid has reduced slightly.

  3. Beat the egg yolk with the cream, add this mixture to the beans, and heat until the mixture is thoroughly hot and near simmering.

  4. Serve immediately.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

136Calories
7 gProtein
11 gFat
3 gCarbs

Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Broad Beannot in our table0

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

By Isabella Beeton. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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. See the original page.

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 + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  2. Beans + parsleytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,376 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  3. Beans + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,733 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Egg + parsleytop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,765 recipes

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

  5. Cream + peppertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together21,449 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Cream and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 21,449 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

Broad beans
Form the main body of the stew and soften to a tender texture as they simmer.
Egg yolk
Thickens the cream mixture gently when heated, giving the stew a richer body.
Cream
Adds fat and richness, mellowing the stew and helping the egg enrich the liquid.
Stock
Provides the cooking liquid that the beans simmer in and partly reduce.

The step that matters

Heat the egg and cream mixture gently. Egg yolk thickens when heated but can curdle or turn grainy if it gets too hot or boils. Heating only until thoroughly hot and near simmering keeps the stew smooth and creamy.

Swap the beans

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

  1. Walnutfits better
  2. Pistachiofits about as well
  3. Chestnutfits about as well
  4. Beansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cream, egg, parsley, 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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