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Timbale of Leveret

A baked timbale of leveret, bacon, mushrooms, and minced pork, topped with brown sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Mushroom and white wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,765 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity. The science ↓

Timbale of Leveret

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Prepare the filling

  1. Cut the leveret into small pieces and place in a saucepan with melted bacon fat.

  2. Add the bacon and onion, then fry until set. Season with salt and spices.

  3. Add the mushrooms and white wine, cover, and cook until the mushrooms release moisture.

  4. Remove from heat and let cool.

Assemble and bake

  1. Butter a timbale mould and sprinkle with shredded nouilles.

  2. Line the mould with short-paste, then fill with the leveret mixture.

  3. Top with a layer of minced pork and bacon, then cover with a round of paste.

  4. Seal the edges and place the mould on a baking sheet.

  5. Bake in a moderate oven (350°F / 175°C) for 1 hour.

Serve

  1. Turn out onto a dish, cut a small hole in the top, and pour in reduced brown 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. Mushroom + white winetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,765 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).

  2. Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  3. Mushroom + porktop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,875 recipes

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

  4. White wine + buttertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,083 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Onion + mushroomtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,626 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Leveret
Provides the main meat, which becomes tender and flavourful during slow cooking.
Streaky bacon
Adds fat and savoury flavour that carries through the filling.
Mushrooms
Release moisture as they cook, keeping the filling juicy.
White wine
Adds acidity and aroma that brighten the rich meat and fat.
Short-paste
Forms a sturdy crust that holds the filling and browns in the oven.
Minced pork and bacon
Adds fat and body to the top layer, keeping the filling moist.

The step that matters

Cooling the filling before assembly. Cooling the cooked mixture before lining the mould keeps the raw paste from softening and becoming greasy. Hot filling would also melt the fat unevenly and weaken the crust's structure during baking.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, white wine, butter, pork):

  1. Potatofits about as well
  2. Shallotfits about as well
  3. Onionthe original
  4. Tomatofits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, white wine, butter, pork. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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