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Mushroom Farce

A savory mushroom filling made with butter, bacon, parsley, and white wine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Mushroom Farce

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a stewpan over medium heat, melt the butter with the grated bacon.

  2. Add the chopped mushrooms and parsley, and season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

  3. Pour in the white wine and let it boil gently until reduced to a jelly consistency.

  4. Store in the refrigerator for a few days if desired.

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. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Parsley + nutmegtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Mushroom + white winetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,765 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).

  4. Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

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

  5. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Fresh mushrooms
Provide the bulk of the filling and release moisture that must cook off.
White wine
Adds acidity and moisture, and reducing it concentrates flavour into a jelly-like consistency.
Grated bacon
Adds savoury fat and flavour as it melts into the butter.
Butter
Carries flavour and fat, helping the mushrooms brown and the filling taste rich.

The step that matters

Reducing the white wine. Mushrooms release liquid as they cook, and wine must be boiled gently until it thickens. If the liquid is left too wet, the filling stays loose and can make pastry or bread soggy.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, parsley, butter, pepper, white wine):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Marjoramfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, parsley, butter, pepper, white wine. 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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