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Vol Au Vents

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Wine and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,632 recipes. Both carry 2-methoxy-4-propylphenol, which smells allspice, anise. The science ↓

Vol Au Vents

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

  1. Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).

  2. In a small pan lined with thin layers of fat bacon, place a garnished faggot of parsley in the center.

  3. Cover with more layers of fat bacon and moisten with wine mirepoix.

  4. Cover with buttered paper and braise gently on the stove or in the oven for about 45 minutes.

  5. Once the quails are done, remove them from the pan and let them cool before trimming neatly.

  6. Line the inside of the pie with some of the remaining force-meat of fat livers, leaving an inch from the top.

  7. Arrange the quails in a circular order with breasts facing up, adding a thin layer of force-meat between each.

  8. Cover with thin layers of fat bacon and place a well-buttered double round of paper on top.

  9. Bake in the oven for about 1 hour.

  10. After baking, remove the bacon and drain off excess grease.

  11. Place a small decorated fillet of fowl between each quail and top each with a large white button mushroom.

  12. Add a border of large white cocks’ combs around the edge and a larded heart sweetbread in the center.

  13. Sauce sparingly with bright Financiere mixed with reduced extract of quails.

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. Wine + mushroomtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,632 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-propylphenol (allspice, anise).

  2. Parsley + mushroomtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,132 recipes

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

  3. Meat + mushroomtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,423 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  4. Quail + meattop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together48 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  5. Quail + mushroomtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together99 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

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

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (quail, wine, meat, liver, mushroom, sauce):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Garlicfits better
  3. Capersfits about as well
  4. Parsleythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against quail, wine, meat, liver, mushroom, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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