Why it works: Butter and truffle match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and 2,209 recipes mention both. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk, shellfish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Also mentioned in the method: scallop
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the crustade
Cut the crustade into a cup shape with eight fluted scallops at the top.
Fry the crustade and remove the inner crumb.
Line the cavities with the farce, leaving room for the quail.
Prepare the quail
Truss the quail.
Partially braise the quail.
Assemble and bake
Insert the quail into the crustade.
Garnish with more farce.
Cover with bacon.
Wrap in buttered paper secured with string.
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for about an hour.
Serve
Before serving, remove the paper and bacon.
Absorb excess grease with a napkin.
Place on a dish and decorate each quail with a small circular fillet of fowl.
Between each quail, place a large white cock's-comb and fill the center with Bourguignotte ragout.
Finish with the extract from the quail carcasses and serve.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Butter + truffletop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,209 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Liver + truffletop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together395 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-nonanal (fatty, waxy).
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Quail + truffletop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together91 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-hexanol (resin, flower).
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Liver + quailtop 8% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together57 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-hexanol (resin, flower).
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Quail + buttertop 8% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together512 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Farce of fat livers
- Forms a rich, moist stuffing that keeps the quail juicy during baking.
- Boned quail
- Provides the main tender meat that is cooked within the crustade.
- Fat bacon
- Covers the quail and bastes it with fat as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps the paper-wrapped quail brown gently.
- Crustade
- Forms a crisp fried bread cup that holds the quail and farce together.
The step that matters
Partially braise the quail. Partial braising sets the meat and renders some fat before baking, so the bird finishes tender rather than dry during the long oven time.
“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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