Why it works: Meat and chicken are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,445 recipes mention both. Both carry 3-methylbutanol, which smells malty, whiskey. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Prepare
Dice the white meat of boiled chicken and truffles.
Make the sauce
In a saucepan, combine the diced truffles, cream, salt, and pepper.
Cook for 12 minutes.
Gradually pour the mixture over the beaten egg yolks diluted in Madeira wine.
Cook until the sauce thickens, stirring constantly.
Serve
Serve immediately.
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.
-
Meat + chickentop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together2,445 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-methylbutanol (malty, whiskey).
-
Truffle + madeira winetop 5% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together195 recipes
-
Chicken + truffletop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together756 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
-
Meat + truffletop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together527 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
-
Chicken + peppertop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together19,957 recipes
Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cream
- Forms the body of the sauce and keeps it rich and smooth as it cooks.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the sauce as they heat, giving it a creamy, set texture.
- Truffles
- Add a deep, earthy aroma that flavours the sauce.
- White meat of boiled chicken
- Provides the main protein, served tender in the creamy sauce.
The step that matters
Adding the yolk mixture to the sauce. Egg yolks can scramble if they get too hot too fast. Pouring the hot mixture in gradually while stirring tempers the yolks, so the sauce thickens smoothly instead of curdling.
“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
Illustration
Illustration
Illustration
IllustrationThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.