Name: Birds in Aspic
Ingredients: 1 bird (chicken or turkey); aspic jelly mixture; truffles; 2 eggs; 2 tablespoons milk; coarse sea salt

Why it works: Chicken and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,389 recipes. Both carry 1-hexanal, which smells fruit. The science ↓

Birds in Aspic

Ingredients

Directions

Clean, bone, stuff, and truss the bird.
Steam over body bones or roast without dredging in flour.
Place a pan in ice water and cover the bottom with aspic jelly mixture.
When firm, garnish with truffles and thinly sliced egg custard cut into fancy shapes.
Add aspic mixture by spoonfuls to avoid disturbing designs.
When firm to ¾ inch depth, place the bird breast down in the mold.
Dip decorative pieces in jelly to make them cling to the pan.
Add remaining aspic mixture gradually.

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.

Chicken + milktop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,389 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).
Chicken + truffletop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together756 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Truffle + eggtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,604 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-octenal (fatty, green).
Egg + milktop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together88,785 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Truffle + milktop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together177 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).