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Cochon De Lait Au Maine Blanc, En Galantine

A whole pig boned and stuffed with forcemeat, then boiled in seasoned broth and served with brown Espagnole.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and sage match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,485 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Cochon De Lait Au Maine Blanc, En Galantine

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the pig

  1. Bone the pig.

  2. Keep the skin intact.

  3. Make forcemeat.

  4. Cover inside with forcemeat.

  5. Rasp some ham over it.

  6. Sew the pig up to maintain shape.

  7. Bind it in a napkin with tape.

Cook

  1. Boil the pig in seasoned broth for two hours over low heat.

  2. Remove the napkin.

  3. Wipe the pig dry.

Serve

  1. Serve with brown Espagnole or cold on a napkin.

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. Thyme + sagetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,485 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Basil + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,768 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  3. Basil + sagetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together223 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  4. Veal + beeftop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,784 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  5. Veal + sagetop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together670 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

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

What each ingredient does

Pig
Forms the main body of the galantine, giving the dish its bulk and shape.
Forcemeat
Adds a rich, tender filling that stays moist and holds its shape when sliced.
Eggs
Bind the forcemeat so it holds together during cooking and slicing.
Panada
Adds moisture and body to the forcemeat, keeping it tender when cooked.
Ham
Adds savoury, salty flavour to the filling.

The step that matters

Keep the skin intact. The skin is the outer shell that holds the stuffing and keeps the galantine's shape and moisture during the long poach. A tear lets filling leak and the meat dry out.

Swap the basil

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, beef, thyme, sage, egg, ham):

  1. Marjoramfits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Rosemaryfits better
  4. Basilthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, beef, thyme, sage, egg, ham. 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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