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Chestnut Savoury

A baked loaf of chestnuts, breadcrumbs, celery, tomatoes, herbs, and eggs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Marjoram and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Chestnut Savoury

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Make the mixture

  1. Combine the chestnuts, bread crumbs, celery stalks, tomatoes, parsley, celery leaves, onions, marjoram, thyme, red pepper, olive oil, salt, and eggs in a large bowl. Mix everything well.

  2. If the mixture is too stiff, add lukewarm water or more eggs.

Bake

  1. Shape the mixture into a loaf.

  2. Place the loaf in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 1 hour or until cooked through.

  3. Occasionally moisten the top with a spoonful of hot water.

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. Marjoram + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Parsley + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,810 recipes

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

  5. Celery + thymetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,193 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Chestnuts
Provide the bulk and starchy, tender body of the loaf.
Whole meal bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and give the loaf structure so it holds its shape.
Eggs
Bind the mixture together and help it set as it bakes.
Tomatoes
Add moisture and acidity to the mixture.
Olive oil
Adds fat for a softer, moister crumb.
Onions
Add aromatic savoury flavour and some moisture.

The step that matters

Adding water or eggs to a stiff mixture. Bread crumbs and chestnuts absorb liquid unevenly, so the mix can turn stiff or dry. Adding lukewarm water or more egg in small amounts keeps it moist enough to hold together and bake through without becoming crumbly.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chestnut, bread, celery, tomato, parsley, marjoram, thyme):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Parsnipfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chestnut, bread, celery, tomato, parsley, marjoram, thyme. 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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