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Galantine of Turkey

A stuffed turkey and chicken roll filled with ham, cracker crumbs, eggs, herbs, and vegetables, baked and served with aspic.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Galantine of Turkey

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the birds

  1. Bone the turkey as directed for boned turkey.

  2. Turn the legs and wings inside out and draw them inside the turkey.

  3. Bone the chicken.

  4. Season the turkey and chicken with salt and pepper.

  5. Place the chicken inside the turkey.

Make the stuffing and shape the roll

  1. Mix the chopped ham, cracker crumbs, and eggs, then season the mixture with herbs.

  2. Form the mixture into a roll and place it inside the chicken.

  3. Sew the turkey skin together.

  4. Shape the turkey into an even roll.

  5. Wrap the roll securely in a cloth and tie the cloth.

Poach and rest

  1. In a soup kettle, combine turkey and chicken scraps, onion, carrot, cloves, parsley, thyme, and marjoram.

  2. Cover the mixture with cold water and bring it to a boil.

  3. Simmer for at least 4 hours, then remove from heat.

  4. Let cool in the liquid.

  5. Place on a large dish and weigh it down.

  6. Let it sit overnight.

Finish and serve

  1. In the morning, remove the cloth.

  2. Brush the galantine with beaten egg and cracker crumbs.

  3. Bake in a hot oven (400°F / 200°C) until browned.

  4. Let cool completely.

  5. Garnish with aspic jelly.

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 + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Pepper + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Turkey + chickentop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together688 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-decenal (green, must).

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

What each ingredient does

Turkey
Forms the main body of the galantine, providing the sliced meat of the finished roll.
Eggs
Bind the ham and cracker crumb mixture so the filling holds its shape when sliced.
Cracker crumbs
Absorb moisture and add body to the filling, and brown to form a crisp coating.
Ham
Adds savory flavor and firm texture to the filling.
Chicken
Adds a second layer of meat around the filling, contributing moisture and flavor.

The step that matters

Simmer gently for at least 4 hours. Keeping the liquid at a gentle simmer cooks the large roll evenly without toughening the meat, which a hard boil can cause. Cooling in the liquid keeps it moist.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (turkey, chicken, pepper, ham, egg, onion, carrot):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Celeryfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against turkey, chicken, pepper, ham, 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.

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