Why it works: Ham and truffle work together. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 516 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓
Chicken Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the chicken
Pound the chicken breast in a marble mortar.
While pounding, add ½ cup of double cream.
Season with pepper and salt to taste.
Pass the mixture through a fine sieve.
Work in another ½ cup of cream.
Steam and serve
Garnish a plain mold with tongue or ham and truffles.
Pour in the mixture and steam very slowly for 1 hour.
Serve with truffle or mushroom sauce, or a clear brown sauce.
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.
-
Ham + truffletop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together516 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
-
Cream + hamtop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,370 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
-
Cream + truffletop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together629 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
-
Pepper + hamtop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,058 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Cream + peppertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together21,449 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 21,449 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
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 the body of the dish when steamed.
- Double cream
- Adds fat and moisture, giving the mixture a smooth, rich texture.
The step that matters
Steam very slowly. Proteins in the chicken set gently at low heat. Fast or high heat can make the mixture curdled, coarse and rubbery, so a slow steam keeps it smooth and tender.
“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.
More chicken cream recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.