Skip to main content
Main

Rice and Egg Timbales

A baked dish of boiled rice, sliced celery, hard‑boiled eggs, oil, parsley, and salt pressed into a mold.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Evora Bucknum Perkins · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 5 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Rice and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,169 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Rice and Egg Timbales

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mixture

  1. Slice the hard-boiled eggs and chop them a little, leaving them coarse.

  2. Mix the sliced eggs with the boiled rice, finely sliced celery, chopped parsley, oil, and salt.

Bake

  1. Press the mixture into a well-oiled mold.

  2. Set the mold in a pan of water in the oven, cover, and bake for ¾–1 hour.

Serve

  1. Unmold and serve with a cream sauce.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

409Calories
11 gProtein
19 gFat
47 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Celery1 stalk (40g)6

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

By Evora Bucknum Perkins. 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. Rice + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,169 recipes

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

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

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

  3. Celery + eggtop 34% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,334 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set when heated, binding the mixture so it holds its shape when unmolded.
Boiled rice
Forms the bulk of the timbale and gives it a soft, tender texture.
Oil
Adds richness and moisture and helps the timbale release from the mold.
Celery
Adds a crisp bite and fresh aroma that contrasts with the soft eggs and rice.

The step that matters

Bake gently in a water bath, covered. The water bath keeps the oven heat gentle, so the egg proteins set slowly and evenly. Too much heat makes the eggs curdle, dry out, and turn rubbery.

Swap the celery

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

  1. Turmericfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Cinnamonfits better
  4. Celerythe original

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

You might also like

Cream of Celery SoupCream of Celery Soup113 recipesRice FrittersRice Fritters84 recipesSteamed RiceSteamed Rice48 recipesRice Griddle CakesRice Griddle Cakes28 recipes