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Dessert

Chicken Mousse

A chilled chicken mousse made with stock, eggs, gelatin, almonds, and cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Chicken Mousse

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Beat the egg yolks slightly, then add salt and paprika.

  2. Gradually pour in the heated chicken stock while stirring.

  3. Cook over hot water until the mixture thickens.

  4. Soak the gelatine in cold water, then add it to the mixture and stir until dissolved.

  5. Strain the mixture and add the finely chopped chicken and almonds.

  6. Season with additional salt and cayenne pepper to taste.

Set and mold

  1. Place the bowl in ice water and stir until the mixture thickens.

  2. Fold in the beaten heavy cream gently.

  3. Pour the mixture into a Sauterne Jelly mold and chill until set.

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. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Almond + creamtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,130 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

  3. Chicken + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,958 recipes

    Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

  4. Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  5. Almond + peppertop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,566 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Egg yolks
Thicken the base as they set with gentle heat and add richness.
Heavy cream
Adds airy lightness and a smooth, rich texture when folded in.
Gelatine
Sets the mousse so it holds its shape when chilled.
Chicken stock
Provides the main savory liquid that gives the mousse its flavor.
Cooked chicken
Supplies the main flavor and body of the mousse.
Blanched almonds
Add texture and a mild nutty flavor to the mousse.

The step that matters

Cook over hot water until the mixture thickens. Egg yolks scramble if overheated, which makes the base grainy. Gentle heat thickens them smoothly, and the mixture must be smooth before the gelatine and cream go in.

Swap the almond

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

  1. Chestnutfits about as well
  2. Cashew nutfits about as well
  3. Sesamefits about as well
  4. Almondthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, egg, sugar, cream, pepper. 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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