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Chicken Cream

A steamed mixture of finely chopped chicken, Bechamel sauce, double cream, and egg, garnished with truffles.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Sauce and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,787 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Chicken Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mixture

  1. Finely chop the chicken meat and pound it in a mortar until smooth.

  2. Gradually add the egg and Bechamel sauce, mixing well.

  3. Pass the mixture through a wire sieve.

  4. Whip the cream until stiff and gently fold it into the chicken mixture.

  5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Mould and cook

  1. Pour the mixture into 1 large or 6-7 small buttered molds.

  2. Steam gently until firm, about 30 minutes for 1 mold or 25 minutes for small molds.

Serve

  1. Serve garnished with truffles and a side of Bechamel or another suitable sauce.

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. Sauce + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,787 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Chicken + truffletop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together756 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  3. Chicken + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,958 recipes

    Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

  4. Egg + truffletop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,604 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-octenal (fatty, green).

  5. Sauce + truffletop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,490 recipes

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken
Provides the main protein that sets into a firm, smooth body when gently steamed.
Egg
Binds the chicken mixture so it holds its shape when set.
Bechamel sauce
Adds moisture and a smooth, rich texture to the chicken mixture.
Double cream
Adds fat and richness, and lightens the set texture when whipped and folded in.

The step that matters

Steam gently until firm. High heat or boiling can make the egg-based mixture curdle or turn spongy and rough. Gentle steam sets the egg proteins slowly, giving a smooth, tender texture.

“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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