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A Fricandeau of Pigeons

A braised pigeon dish with bacon, leek, and gravy, garnished with parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley 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 ↓

A Fricandeau of Pigeons

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the pigeons

  1. Truss the pigeons with their legs under their wings.

  2. Lard the pigeons with bacon and place them in a stewpan, larded side down.

Braise

  1. Add the chopped leek and gravy, cover the pan, and set it over low heat.

  2. Increase the heat towards the end to reduce the liquid.

  3. Once browned, remove the pigeons and discard excess fat.

  4. Add more hot gravy, stir for 3-4 minutes, and pour it over the pigeons.

Serve

  1. Garnish with crispy parsley.

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

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

  2. Leek + parsleytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together759 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  3. Leek + peppertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together965 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Pigeons
Provide the main meat, which becomes tender and flavourful as it braises slowly in the covered pan.
Bacon
Adds fat and savoury flavour that bastes the lean pigeon meat as it cooks.
Gravy
Supplies liquid for gentle braising and, when reduced, concentrates flavour into a glossy sauce.
White leek
Adds a mild onion-like aroma and sweetness to the braising liquid.

The step that matters

Reducing the liquid after increasing the heat. Raising the heat near the end concentrates the gravy's flavour and thickens it. If it reduces too far or burns, the sauce turns bitter and sticky, so watch it closely.

Swap the leek

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

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Leekthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against 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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