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Bisque D’Ecrevisses

A creamy crayfish bisque made with butter, rice, anchovies, onion, bay leaf, salt, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Bisque D’Ecrevisses

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

  1. In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat.

  2. Add the onion and cook until softened.

  3. Stir in the crayfish and cook for a few minutes.

  4. Add the rice, anchovies, bay leaf, salt, and pepper.

  5. Pour in enough water to cover the ingredients and bring to a boil.

  6. Reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.

  7. Remove the bay leaf and onion, then blend the soup until smooth.

  8. Serve hot, garnished with additional crayfish if desired.

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. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Rice + oniontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,433 recipes

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

  3. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Crayfish + buttertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together343 recipes

    Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).

  5. Rice + peppertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,379 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Crayfish
Provides the main shellfish flavor and body of the bisque.
Rice
Thickens the broth as it cooks and softens, giving the bisque body.
Butter
Carries flavor and adds richness to the base.
French roll crumb
Helps thicken the soup and give it a smoother texture.

The step that matters

Blend the soup until smooth. Blending breaks down the cooked rice and shells into a fine purée; if the solids are not fully softened from simmering, the texture stays gritty rather than smooth.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (crayfish, butter, rice, onion, pepper):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Celeryfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against crayfish, butter, rice, onion, pepper. 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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