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Vol-au-Vents

A puff pastry shell filled with a seafood ragout of scalloped fish, oysters, mussels, and mushrooms.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Egg and oyster are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,103 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Vol-au-Vents

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 cases

  1. Roll out the puff pastry to ½ inch thick.

  2. Cut the pastry into rounds.

  3. Cut smaller rounds from the center to create lids.

  4. Place the pastry cases on a baking sheet.

  5. Bake at 350°F (175°C) until browned.

  6. Carefully lift the center pieces.

  7. Scoop out any undercooked paste.

Make the filling

  1. Prepare a ragout with scalloped fish, oysters, mussels, and mushrooms.

  2. Mix the mussel cooking liquor with veloute sauce.

  3. Reduce the mixture.

  4. Thicken the sauce with beaten egg yolks.

  5. Combine the thickened sauce with the ragout.

Assemble and serve

  1. Fill the pastry cases with the mixture.

  2. Serve immediately.

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. Egg + oystertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,103 recipes

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

  2. Oyster + saucetop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Oyster + mushroomtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,299 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  4. Mushroom + saucetop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,480 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Egg + mushroomtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,987 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Puff pastry
Bakes into flaky, airy, crisp cases that hold the filling.
Eggs
Beaten eggs are used in the recipe, adding richness and help with browning of the pastry.
Egg yolks
Thicken the sauce as they set gently with heat, adding richness and body.
Veloute sauce
Forms the creamy base that binds the seafood and mushrooms together.
Mussels
Their cooking liquor adds a savory, briny flavor to the sauce.

The step that matters

Thicken the sauce with beaten egg yolks. Egg yolks scramble if the sauce is too hot when they are added. Stir in a little warm sauce first, then add them gently over low heat so the sauce thickens smoothly without curdling.

“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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