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Cold Galantine of Beef

A chilled beef galantine made by simmering beef with aromatics, then setting in a mold with strained gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,053 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Cold Galantine of Beef

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the beef

  1. Lard the beef.

  2. Tie the beef tightly.

Simmer

  1. Heat the butter in a saucepan.

  2. Add the onion, carrot, and any veal or liver trimmings (or calf's foot).

  3. Add the broth or stock.

  4. Place the beef in the saucepan.

  5. Season with pepper, salt, cloves, bay leaves, parsley, and chopped shallot.

  6. Bring the mixture to a boil.

  7. Skim the surface.

  8. Reduce heat and simmer gently for four hours or more.

Set in the mold

  1. Transfer the beef to a large mold.

  2. Strain the gravy through muslin.

  3. Pour the strained gravy into the mold over the beef.

  4. Let the mixture cool.

  5. Remove any fat that solidifies on top.

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. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  3. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Silver side of the round beef
Forms the main body of the galantine, becoming tender and sliceable after long gentle simmering.
Broth or stock
Cooks the beef in liquid and forms the gravy that sets into a jelly as it cools.
Veal or liver trimmings
Adds gelatin and savoury depth to the gravy, helping it set when chilled.
Butter
Fat used to start the aromatics, adding richness to the gravy.

The step that matters

Skim the surface. Skimming removes coagulated proteins and fat that rise as the liquid heats, keeping the gravy clear and clean-tasting. Skimming during the first boil matters because these impurities would otherwise cloud and flavour the finished jelly.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, onion, carrot, butter, veal, pepper, parsley):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Celeryfits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, onion, carrot, butter, veal, pepper, parsley. 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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