Why it works: Mace and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
Boudin of Pheasant a LA Richelieu
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the filling
Mince and pound the pheasant flesh to a smooth paste.
Add the roasted or boiled potato and blend well.
Incorporate fresh butter, mace, nutmeg, cayenne, and salt; pound for 10-15 minutes.
Remove the germs from the eggs and add them one at a time, mixing until smooth.
Shape and poach
Shape the mixture into a roll and place it in a buttered stewpan.
Pour boiling water over it and poach gently for 10-15 minutes.
Carefully lift it out, drain on a sieve, and let it cool.
Coat and finish
Cover with beaten egg and then with fine breadcrumbs.
Broil over a clear fire or fry in butter until golden brown.
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.
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Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,557 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Potato + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,052 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Pheasant + potatotop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together23 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pheasant flesh
- Forms the main body of the boudin and gives it its savoury flavour.
- Potatoes
- Adds body and moisture, keeping the mixture soft and light rather than dense.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, making the smooth filling tender when cooked.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture so it holds its shape when poached and sliced.
The step that matters
Pounding the filling smooth before adding eggs. Pounding the meat, potato and butter together emulsifies the mixture into a fine, even paste. If the filling is lumpy or the eggs are added too early or too fast, the roll can split or turn grainy during poaching.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pheasant, potato, butter, nutmeg, egg):
- Parsleyfits better
- Cinnamonfits better
- Thymefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pheasant, potato, butter, nutmeg, egg. 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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