Skip to main content
Main

Cold Galantine of Beef

A chilled beef galantine prepared by simmering beef with aromatics, then molding and chilling.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Carrot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,053 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Cold Galantine of Beef

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the beef

  1. Lard the beef and tie it tightly.

Make the broth

  1. In a saucepan, heat the butter and add the onion, carrot, and any veal or liver trimmings (or calf's foot).

  2. Add the broth or stock, then place the beef in the saucepan.

  3. Season with pepper, salt, cloves, bay leaves, parsley, and shallot.

  4. Bring to a boil for a few minutes, then reduce heat and let it simmer gently for four hours or more.

Set and serve

  1. Transfer the beef to a large mold and strain the gravy through muslin into the mold.

  2. Let it cool, then remove any fat that has set on top.

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. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

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

  2. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  3. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  4. Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Silver side of beef
Forms the main body of the galantine and becomes tender through long, gentle simmering.
Broth or stock
Provides the cooking liquid that gives moisture and flavor to the beef and gravy.
Veal or liver trimmings
Add gelatin and savory depth to the gravy, helping it set when cooled.
Butter
Adds richness and carries the flavor of the aromatics at the start of cooking.

The step that matters

Simmering gently for four hours or more. A rolling boil toughens meat proteins and cloudies the gravy, while a gentle simmer keeps the beef tender and the liquid clear. Gelatin from the bones and trimmings extracted slowly is what lets the gravy set firm when cooled.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, onion, carrot, butter, veal, pepper, parsley):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, onion, carrot, butter, veal, pepper, parsley. 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.

You might also like

Beef, Mutton, or Veal BrothBeef, Mutton, or Veal Broth6 recipesRoast BeefRoast Beef211 recipesBeef LoafBeef Loaf175 recipesCarrot SoupCarrot Soup134 recipes