Why it works: Chicken and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,172 recipes. Both carry 1-butyl acetate, which smells fruity, banana. The science ↓
Creamed Chicken
Ingredients
Directions
In the top of a double boiler, combine the chicken, veal, and white sauce.
Cook slowly for 2 hours.
If desired, add mushrooms.
If the mixture is too thick, thin it with chicken broth.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
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Chicken + mushroomtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,172 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-butyl acetate (fruity, banana).
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Chicken + vealtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,243 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-butanedione (buttery, creamy).
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Veal + mushroomtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,446 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Sauce + mushroomtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,480 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Chicken + saucetop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,513 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chicken
- Provides the main meaty body and substance of the dish.
- Veal
- Adds tender, delicate meat that blends into the creamy base.
- White sauce
- Supplies creaminess and moisture that binds the meats together.
The step that matters
Cooking slowly over a double boiler. Gentle, indirect heat keeps the white sauce from scorching or separating and keeps the meat tender. Rushing the heat can make the sauce grainy and the meat tough.
“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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