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Mushroom Saucb

A steamed or baked custard of chicken, mushrooms, eggs, and cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Mushroom and chicken 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 ↓

Mushroom Saucb

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Prepare the base

  1. Substitute ½ cup mushroom liquor for part of the chicken stock.

  2. Add the sautéed mushrooms.

  3. Add the egg.

  4. Chop the raw chicken breast finely.

  5. Beat 1 egg.

  6. Add the chicken.

  7. Continue beating until smooth.

  8. Add the remaining 3 eggs one at a time.

  9. Beat each in thoroughly.

  10. Mix in 1 teaspoon salt.

  11. Mix in ¼ teaspoon white pepper.

  12. Mix in a dash of black pepper.

  13. Mix in 1 pint cream.

Fill and steam

  1. Butter twelve small moulds.

  2. Ornament them with truffles.

  3. Fill the moulds with the chicken mixture.

  4. Cover with buttered paper.

  5. Steam for 20 minutes.

  6. Place in a pan of boiling water.

Bake and serve

  1. Cook in a 350°F (175°C) oven until the centers are firm.

  2. Serve with mushroom or béchamel sauce.

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. Mushroom + chickentop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,172 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-butyl acetate (fruity, banana).

  2. Mushroom + truffletop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,900 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  3. Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  4. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  5. Butter + truffletop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,209 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Set the mixture and give the soufflé its structure as they cook.
Chicken breast
Adds body and a firm, tender texture to the mousse-like batter.
Cream
Adds richness and moisture, keeping the mixture soft and smooth.
Mushrooms
Provide earthy flavour and moisture to the batter.
Chicken stock
Supplies liquid and savoury flavour to the batter.

The step that matters

Beating in the eggs and chicken until smooth. Eggs must be fully incorporated so the batter sets evenly. Overbeating or underbeating can leave a grainy or uneven texture once the proteins coagulate with heat.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, chicken, egg, pepper, cream, butter, truffle):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Garlicfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, chicken, egg, pepper, cream, butter, truffle. 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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