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Timbale of Pigeons with Truffles

A baked timbale of pigeons layered with truffles and fine farce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Truffle and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,209 recipes. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓

Timbale of Pigeons with Truffles

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the pigeons

  1. Prepare the pigeons by simmering them for 7-8 minutes on low heat.

  2. Remove the bones from the pigeons and let them cool in their seasoning.

Line and fill the mold

  1. Butter a mold, then line it with nouille paste, pressing it against the sides and bottom.

  2. Fill the bottom with a layer of farce fine.

  3. Arrange 8 half pigeons in a ring with a slice of truffle on top.

  4. Add half of the moistening liquid from the pigeons.

  5. Layer the remaining pigeons and the rest of the seasoning.

  6. Ensure all air is pressed out from between the mold and paste.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake for 1.5 hours.

  2. Cut off the top of the timbale.

  3. Skim off any excess farce.

  4. Serve.

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. Truffle + buttertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,209 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  2. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Truffle + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,604 recipes

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

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, cooked gently and layered through the timbale for moisture and texture.
Truffles
Contribute a concentrated earthy aroma that perfumes the whole timbale.
Timbale paste
Forms the shell that holds the filling in shape as it bakes.
Farce fine
Adds a seasoned, truffle-flavored layer that separates and enriches the pigeon filling.

The step that matters

Ensure all air is pressed out from between the mold and paste. Trapped air pockets leave gaps between the paste and the mold, so the shell can lose its contact with the mold and bake unevenly or bulge out of shape.

“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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