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Stuffed, Banker's Fashion

A capon stuffed with turkey, pork, and truffles, braised with vegetables and stock.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 24 ingredients
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Why it works: Allspice and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,395 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Stuffed, Banker's Fashion

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the forcemeat

  1. Prepare the capon by singeing, drawing, and boning it, setting aside the drumsticks.

  2. Make a forcemeat by finely chopping and pounding the turkey breast, lean pork, and fat pork.

  3. Add the soaked bread crumbs, allspice, pepper, coarse sea salt, brandy, sherry, and truffle juice to the forcemeat.

  4. Mix in the smoked beef tongue, truffles, and fat goose liver.

Stuff and braise

  1. Stuff the capon with the forcemeat and sew it closed, maintaining its natural shape.

  2. Line a braising pan with raw ham, carrots, onions, parsley roots, bay leaves, thyme, and peppercorns.

  3. Place the stuffed capon in the pan and surround it with broken veal bones.

  4. Brown the vegetables slightly on the range, then moisten with veal stock and consomme.

  5. Cover tightly and cook in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 2½ hours, basting occasionally.

Finish the gravy

  1. Once done, strain the gravy, add a pinch of sugar, and thicken with cornstarch diluted in sherry.

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. Allspice + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Brandy + sherrytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,209 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Turkey + porktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together830 recipes

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

  4. Bread + milktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  5. Turkey + breadtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together822 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Fat pork
Adds fat and moisture to the forcemeat so it stays juicy when cooked.
Bread crumbs
Soaked in milk, they absorb liquid and help the forcemeat hold together with a soft texture.
Fat goose liver
Its high fat content gives the stuffing richness and a smooth, silky texture.
Truffles
Contribute a strong earthy aroma that flavours the forcemeat.
Turkey breast
Lean meat that provides the main body and structure of the forcemeat.
Cornstarch
Thickens the strained gravy into a glossy sauce.

The step that matters

Cover tightly and cook at 350°F for 2½ hours. Keeping the lid tight traps steam so the capon braises in its own moisture rather than drying out. Basting carries heat and juices over the surface, which helps it brown and stay tender.

Swap the allspice

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (turkey, pork, bread, milk, pepper, brandy, sherry):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Clovefits better
  3. Sagefits better
  4. Allspicethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against turkey, pork, bread, milk, pepper, brandy, sherry. 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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