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Cutlets of Quails

Braised quails served with a rich Financiere ragout.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Cutlets of Quails

Ingredients

Directions

Braise

  1. Place the trussed quails in a stewpan with layers of fat bacon underneath and on top.

  2. Add a faggot of parsley in the center and moisten with white wine.

  3. Braise gently for about 45 minutes.

Prepare the ragout

  1. Prepare a rich Financiere ragout, finishing it with some of the braising liquid.

Serve

  1. When ready to serve, warm the quails, drain them, and place on a serving dish.

  2. Garnish with the Financiere ragout and pour some sauce around the quails.

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. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Parsley + white winetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,890 recipes

    Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).

  3. White wine + peppertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,433 recipes

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

  4. Quail + parsleytop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together153 recipes

    Shared aroma: sabinene (woody, terpenic).

  5. Quail + peppertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together391 recipes

    Shared aroma: sabinene (woody, terpenic).

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

What each ingredient does

Quails
Provide the main meat, which becomes tender through gentle braising.
Fat bacon
Bastes the quails with fat as they braise, keeping the meat moist and adding savoury flavour.
White wine
Adds acidity and aroma to the braising liquid, helping build the sauce.
Financiere ragout
Serves as the rich garnish and, finished with braising liquid, adds body to the sauce.

The step that matters

Braise gently. Low, slow heat lets the connective tissue in the quail soften without drying the meat. Boiling would toughen the muscle fibres and reduce the braising liquid too quickly.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (quail, white wine, pepper):

  1. Thymefits about as well
  2. Parsleythe original
  3. Tarragonfits about as well
  4. Garlicfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against quail, white wine, 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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