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Consomme a LA Cleveland

A consommé made with finely chopped chicken, soaked bread, butter, egg yolks, spices, and parsley, baked in tin moulds.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Consomme a LA Cleveland

six tin moulds
Oven, in the book's wordsA medium oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a medium oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. In a bowl, mix the chopped chicken, soaked bread, butter, egg yolks, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and parsley until well combined.

Bake and serve

  1. Fill six tin moulds with the mixture.

  2. Bake in the preheated oven until done.

  3. Turn out the moulds and serve with consomme.

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Nutmeg + parsleytop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

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

  4. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken breast
Provides the main protein that sets into a firm, tender body when baked.
Egg yolks
Bind the mixture and help it set into a cohesive, sliceable form.
Soaked bread
Adds moisture and a soft texture that lightens the chicken mixture.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a smoother, more tender texture.

The step that matters

Bake in the preheated oven until done. Egg yolks set with heat, so overbaking can make the mixture dense and rubbery, while underbaking leaves it loose and unable to hold its shape when turned out.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, bread, milk, butter, egg, pepper, parsley):

  1. Thymefits about as well
  2. Nutmegthe original
  3. Marjoramfits about as well
  4. Tarragonfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, bread, milk, butter, egg, pepper, parsley. 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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