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Quenelles As an Entree

A savory dish of meat quenelles served in brown gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Quenelles As an Entree

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mixture

  1. Mince the dressed meat finely.

  2. Mix with fine bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, lemon rind, and anchovy.

  3. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

  4. Combine with melted butter and egg yolk.

Shape and cook

  1. Mould into quenelles or oval balls.

  2. Fry in butter until golden brown.

  3. Serve in rich brown gravy.

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 + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

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

  3. Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

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

  4. Garlic + parsleytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,308 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Dressed meat
Forms the main body of the quenelles and gives them their savoury flavour.
Fine bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and bind the meat so the mixture holds its shape.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture, and browns during frying for a golden crust.
Egg yolk
Binds the mixture together and helps it hold its shape while frying.
Anchovy
Adds a salty, savoury depth to the meat mixture.

The step that matters

Frying until golden brown. The quenelles are delicate and can break apart if handled roughly or fried over high heat. Gentle, steady frying in butter sets the outside and browns it evenly without leaving the centre underdone.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, bread, garlic, parsley, lemon, anchovy, pepper):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Marjoramfits better
  3. Capersfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, bread, garlic, parsley, lemon, anchovy, 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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