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Timbales of Chicken

A baked dish of finely chopped chicken mixed with cream, truffles, and egg whites, served hot with cream mushroom sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Meat and chicken are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,449 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Timbales of Chicken

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderately hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Prepare the paste

  1. Chop the chicken meat very fine and pound it to a smooth paste, gradually adding the cream.

  2. Season the mixture with salt and pepper, then add the truffles.

  3. Add the unbeaten whites of 2 eggs one at a time, mixing until each is fully incorporated.

  4. Beat the remaining 2 egg whites to a stiff froth and gently stir them into the mixture.

Bake and serve

  1. Fill greased timbale molds half full with the chicken paste.

  2. Place the molds in a pan of hot water, ensuring the water level matches the paste level inside the molds.

  3. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 20 to 30 minutes, depending on mold size.

  4. If using a single large mold, bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

  5. Serve hot with a cream mushroom 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. Meat + chickentop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,449 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  2. Truffle + meattop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together527 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  3. Truffle + chickentop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together756 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

  5. Egg + truffletop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,604 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken meat
Forms the main body of the timbale once pounded into a smooth paste.
Egg whites
Whipped whites add lift and a light, set structure as the timbale bakes.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, keeping the chicken paste tender rather than dry.
Truffles
Contribute a concentrated earthy aroma to the chicken mixture.

The step that matters

Folding in the stiff egg whites. Whites that are under-beaten or stirred vigorously will deflate and lose the lift that gives the timbale a light texture. Stir gently so the air bubbles stay trapped in the paste while it sets in the oven.

“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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