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Vegetarian Turkey

A steamed vegetarian loaf made from bread crumbs, nuts, lentils, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Wheat and walnut match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 246 recipes. Both carry 1-hexanal, which smells fruit. The science ↓

Vegetarian Turkey

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Moisten the bread crumbs slightly with water.

  2. Grate the nuts and rolled wheat very fine using a nut grinder.

  3. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

Steam

  1. Place the mixture in a muslin bag, tie the ends, leaving room for expansion.

  2. Steam the bag in a steam cooker or over boiling water, covered tightly, for about 10-12 hours.

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. Wheat + walnuttop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together246 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).

  2. Wheat + peanuttop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together151 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  3. Walnut + peanuttop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together241 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  4. Bread + cheesetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,130 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Wheat + breadtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together209 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the mixture and set into a firm, sliceable loaf when steamed.
Lentil pulp
Adds body and moisture, giving the loaf a substantial, meaty texture.
English walnut meats
Contribute fat and richness, adding texture and a nutty flavour.
Peanuts
Add fat and nutty flavour, helping the loaf hold together with a firm texture.
Whole-wheat bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and add bulk, giving the loaf structure and a soft crumb.
Rolled wheat
Adds bulk and starch, helping the loaf hold its shape and texture.

The step that matters

Leaving room in the muslin bag. The mixture expands as it heats and sets, so the bag must be tied loosely. If packed tight, the loaf can swell against the cloth and split or cook unevenly.

Swap the peanut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (wheat, bread, walnut, meat, cream, cheese, egg):

  1. Almondfits about as well
  2. Pecansfits about as well
  3. Peanutthe original
  4. Pistachiofits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against wheat, bread, walnut, meat, cream, cheese, 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.

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