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Chaud Froid a LA Paysanne

A chilled gelatin-based dish with beef, vegetables, and aspic.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Sauce and ketchup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,099 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Chaud Froid a LA Paysanne

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mixture

  1. Melt the gelatine.

  2. In a basin, mix all ingredients well with a wooden spoon.

Mould and serve

  1. Add the melted gelatine and pour the mixture into a mold.

  2. Once set, turn out the dish and arrange the mixed vegetables and aspic around it.

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. Sauce + ketchuptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,099 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Sherry + port winetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together132 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  3. Mustard + tarragontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together901 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  4. Vinegar + tarragontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,547 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Gelatine
Sets the mixture into a firm, sliceable shape as it cools.
Brown sauce
Adds savoury depth and moisture to the mixture.
Cooked beef
Provides the bulk and meaty texture of the dish.
Aspic jelly
Forms a glossy, set jelly that finishes the outside of the dish.
Cooked vegetables
Add colour and a contrasting texture around the mould.

The step that matters

Pour the melted gelatine into the mixture before it sets. Gelatine sets as it cools, so if it is allowed to firm up before being mixed in and poured, the mixture will not fill the mould evenly and the shape will be uneven.

Swap the tarragon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sauce, beef, sherry, port wine, ketchup, mustard, vinegar):

  1. Tarragonthe original
  2. Capersfits about as well
  3. Celeryfits about as well
  4. Allspicefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sauce, beef, sherry, port wine, ketchup, mustard, vinegar. 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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