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Truffle and Chestnut Stuffing for Poultry and Game

A savory stuffing made with chestnuts, bacon, truffles, spices, and herbs for poultry and game.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and marjoram 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 ↓

Truffle and Chestnut Stuffing for Poultry and Game

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the chestnuts

  1. Remove the outer skin from the chestnuts.

  2. Place the chestnuts in a saucepan with the bay leaf, coarse sea salt, coriander seeds, and cover with water.

  3. Boil until tender, then drain and peel off the inner skin.

Make the stuffing

  1. In a bowl, combine the chestnuts, chopped bacon, chopped truffles, pepper, spices, thyme, and marjoram. Mix well and it's ready for use.

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. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Pepper + marjoramtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,609 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

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

  4. Coriander + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together427 recipes

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

  5. Coriander + marjoramtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together54 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
Form the bulk of the stuffing and give it a soft, starchy texture when cooked until tender.
Fat bacon
Adds fat and savoury flavour that carries through the stuffing.
Truffles
Provide a concentrated, earthy aroma that defines the dish.

The step that matters

Boil until tender, then drain and peel off the inner skin. Chestnuts must be cooked fully through so they soften evenly; undercooked chestnuts stay firm and grainy. Peeling the inner skin while they are still warm is easier and removes bitter astringency.

Swap the chestnut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (coriander, truffle, pepper, thyme, marjoram):

  1. Lentilsfits about as well
  2. Beansfits about as well
  3. Chestnutthe original
  4. Pistachiofits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against coriander, truffle, pepper, thyme, marjoram. 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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