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Livers, a L'epicurienne

Livers wrapped in bacon, simmered in wine mirepoix, then combined with truffles, quenelles, mushrooms, and brown fine-herbs sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Truffle and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,900 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Livers, a L'epicurienne

Ingredients

Directions

Poach the livers

  1. Wrap the livers in bacon and simmer gently in wine mirepoix for 30 minutes.

  2. Remove from heat and let the livers cool in the liquid.

  3. Cut the livers into scallops without waste.

Finish and glaze

  1. In a small deep pan, combine the livers, truffles, quenelles, mushrooms, and half the mirepoix, free of grease.

  2. Boil briskly until the moisture reduces to a glaze.

  3. Add brown fine-herbs sauce and toss everything together over heat.

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. Truffle + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,900 recipes

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

  2. Wine + mushroomtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,632 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-propylphenol (allspice, anise).

  3. Liver + truffletop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together395 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-nonanal (fatty, waxy).

  4. Liver + mushroomtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together572 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Mushroom + saucetop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,480 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Strasbourg livers
Provide the rich, creamy, fatty body that forms the centrepiece of the dish.
Fat bacon
Bastes the livers as it renders, adding savoury flavour and keeping them moist while simmering.
Black perigord truffles
Contribute a intense, earthy aroma that defines the dish.
Game quenelles
Add a light, tender texture that contrasts with the soft livers.
Brown fine-herbs sauce
Adds depth, body and savoury richness to coat the mixture.

The step that matters

Boil briskly until the moisture reduces to a glaze. Vigorous boiling evaporates free liquid so the sauce thickens and clings to the pieces instead of thinning into a watery mixture. Removing grease first helps the glaze stay clean and concentrated.

“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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