Why it works: Carrot and turnip match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,002 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Galantine of Chicken
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the stock
Bone the chicken as directed in the receipt for Boned Birds.
Place the carcass in 4 quarts of cold water with a bouquet of herbs, an onion stuck with 10 cloves, a peeled carrot, and a peeled turnip.
Bring the water to a boil and skim the surface to remove impurities.
Make the forcemeat
Make a forcemeat by finely mincing 1 lb each of fresh veal and pork, or using an equal quantity of nice sausage meat.
Season the forcemeat with 1 teaspoon mixed ground cloves, nutmeg, mace, allspice, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
Add the wine, 2 eggs, larding pork, and tongue to the forcemeat and mix thoroughly.
Shape and poach
Lay the chicken flesh skin down, place the forcemeat on it, and fold the chicken over in the shape of the bird.
Roll the stuffed chicken tightly in a strong, clean cloth, tie in the center and near the ends with tape, and secure the ends with twine.
Put the chicken into the water with the carcass and boil slowly for 3 hours, replenishing with boiling water to keep the chicken covered.
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.
-
Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,002 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Chicken + porktop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,417 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
-
Onion + turniptop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,585 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21,601 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Chicken + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,814 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chicken
- Forms the outer shell and becomes moist and tender during slow poaching.
- Forcemeat
- Provides a fine, savory filling that sets firm as it cooks through.
- Eggs
- Bind the forcemeat so it holds together when sliced.
- Larding pork
- Adds fat and moisture to the lean forcemeat, keeping it juicy.
- Wine
- Adds acidity and aroma that brighten the rich forcemeat.
The step that matters
Keep the chicken fully submerged while poaching. Slow boiling must keep the roll covered by liquid. Exposed parts overcook and dry out, while even submersion cooks the forcemeat gently and evenly.
Swap the turnip
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, meat, pork, wine, egg, onion, carrot):
- Potatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Tomatofits better
- Turnipthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, meat, pork, wine, egg, onion, carrot. 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.
You might also like
Chicken Broth257 recipes
Chicken Soup156 recipes
Carrot Soup134 recipes
Pork Cake107 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.