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Galantine of Turkey

A turkey carcass stuffed with a seasoned forcemeat, rolled, boiled, and served with its own stock.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Galantine of Turkey

Ingredients

Directions

Make the stock

  1. Place the turkey carcass in a large pot with 4 quarts of cold water, herbs, onion, carrot, and turnip.

  2. Bring to a boil, skimming off any impurities.

Prepare the forcemeat

  1. Prepare the forcemeat by mixing veal and pork (or sausage or chicken) with spices, salt, wine, and raw eggs.

  2. Add larding pork and cold tongue, mixing thoroughly.

Roll and poach

  1. Lay the turkey skin-side down, spread the forcemeat on top, and fold the turkey over it to form a roll.

  2. Wrap the turkey tightly in a clean cloth, securing it with tape and twine to keep it compact.

  3. Submerge the wrapped turkey in the boiling stock and cook slowly for 3 hours, adding boiling water as needed to keep it covered.

  4. After 3 hours, remove the turkey, unwrap it, and rinse in cold water.

  5. Rewrap it and place it between two platters under a heavy weight to cool overnight.

Finish the stock

  1. Strain the stock, let it sit overnight to separate the fat, then remove the fat and heat the stock again.

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. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Nutmeg + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,331 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,002 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Nutmeg + macetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,557 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

Turkey (in the method)
Forms the main body of the galantine, holding the forcemeat in a rolled shape.
Veal, pork, or sausage meat
Forms the forcemeat, giving the filling a soft, moist, sliceable texture.
Raw eggs
Bind the forcemeat so it holds together when cooked and sliced.
Larding pork
Adds fat that keeps the forcemeat moist and rich during slow cooking.
Sherry or madeira wine
Adds acidity and aroma that balance the richness of the meats.
Cold tongue
Adds texture and flavor to the forcemeat, giving visible pieces when sliced.

The step that matters

Cooking the rolled turkey slowly in the stock. Keeping the stock just simmering and the turkey fully submerged cooks the forcemeat gently. A hard boil can toughen the meat and break up the roll, and the eggs can set unevenly.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clove, carrot, turnip, veal, nutmeg, mace, allspice):

  1. Parsnipfits better
  2. Leekfits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against clove, carrot, turnip, veal, nutmeg, mace, allspice. 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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