Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Cotelettes De Volaille a LA Du Barry — Chicken Cutlets, Du Barry Style
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.
Butter the cutlet-shaped moulds.
Fill them with cream chicken forcemeat.
Cook in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until slightly underdone.
Allow to cool, then coat with egg and bread crumbs.
Fry in hot lard until golden brown.
Dress on a dish, garnish with puree of cauliflower, and serve with Valois sauce.
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.
-
Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,787 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Chicken + breadtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,258 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the cauliflower
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, cream, chicken, egg, bread, sauce):
- Asparagusfits better
- Potatofits better
- Leekfits better
- Cauliflowerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, cream, chicken, egg, bread, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Brown Bread461 recipes
Chicken Broth257 recipes
Chicken Soup156 recipes
Creamed Chicken89 recipes