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Pigeons a LA Sousell

Braised pigeons stuffed with forcemeat served over stewed sorrel with a reduced veal stock glaze.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Veal and sorrel work together. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and 151 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-methylbutyraldehyde, which smells malty, chocolate. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the pigeons

  1. Bone the legs and wings of the pigeons and draw them.

  2. Fill the pigeons with high-seasoned forcemeat.

Braise and glaze

  1. Braise the pigeons in veal stock until cooked through.

  2. Remove the pigeons, wipe them dry, and glaze the tops.

Serve

  1. Serve the pigeons on a bed of stewed sorrel.

  2. Strain the braising liquid, skim off the fat, and reduce it to a glaze to add to the sorrel.

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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Veal + sorreltop 14% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together151 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).

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

What each ingredient does

Pigeons
Provide the main meat, which is kept moist and tender by braising.
Veal stock
Braising liquid that cooks the birds and later reduces to a flavourful glaze.
High-seasoned forcemeat
Stuffing that adds seasoned richness inside the birds as they cook.
Sorrel
Adds a sharp, acidic note that contrasts with the rich meat.

The step that matters

Skim off the fat before reducing the braising liquid. Fat left in the strained liquid stays greasy as it reduces, so the glaze can taste oily and fail to cling. Skimming first gives a clean, glossy glaze.

“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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