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Terrine of Duck’s Fat Livers

A baked terrine of duck livers layered with herbs, truffles, Madeira wine, and bacon, set in aspic jelly.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Truffle and madeira wine work together. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 195 recipes. The science ↓

Terrine of Duck’s Fat Livers

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the mixture

  1. Stir the chopped herbs, spice, and salt into the duck liver mixture.

  2. Add the chopped truffles and Madeira wine to the mixture.

Assemble and bake

  1. Cover the bottom and sides of a terrine with a layer of the mixture, thicker at the bottom.

  2. Layer the livers and truffles in the center, adding some mince between layers to form a dome shape.

  3. Cover the top with slices of fat bacon.

  4. Place the terrine in a deep baking dish, cover with paper, and bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven, basting frequently with the fat.

  5. After 2 hours, cover the terrine, add a little water to the baking dish, and bake for another 1.5 hours.

Press and serve

  1. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

  2. Place a shaped piece of wood on top and weigh it down, allowing it to cool completely for a day.

  3. Dip the terrine in warm water and turn it out.

  4. Trim rough edges, slice into long squares, and arrange in a pyramid shape on a dish.

  5. Fill the center with chopped aspic jelly and decorate the base with aspic jelly croutons.

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 + madeira winetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together195 recipes
  2. Liver + truffletop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together395 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-nonanal (fatty, waxy).

  3. Liver + madeira winetop 31% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together37 recipes

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

What each ingredient does

Duck liver
Forms the rich, smooth body of the terrine and carries its flavour.
Truffles
Add an earthy, aromatic note that perfumes the whole terrine.
Madeira wine
Adds sweetness and depth that balances the rich liver.
Fat bacon
Covers the top and adds moisture and savoury fat during baking.
Fine herbs
Contribute fresh aromatic flavour to the liver mixture.

The step that matters

Baking with the water bath and covering. Gentle, moist heat keeps the liver mixture from overcooking and turning grainy or dry. Covering and adding water to the dish help the terrine set evenly and stay tender.

“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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