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Timbale a LA Reine

A steamed chicken timbale with oysters, celery puree, cream, butter, eggs, and a chestnut puree center.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Celery and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Timbale a LA Reine

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the forcemeat

  1. Pass the chicken twice through a meat grinder.

  2. Pound the chicken with the panada and rub it through a sieve.

Make the mixture

  1. Add celery puree, cream, butter, seasoning, and beaten eggs.

  2. Fold in the oysters cut into four pieces.

Steam and serve

  1. Put the mixture into a border mold decorated with small diamonds of truffles.

  2. Steam for 45 minutes.

  3. Turn onto a hot serving dish.

  4. Pour the sauce around and place chestnut puree in the center using a piping bag with a large rose tube.

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. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

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

  2. Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

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

  3. Celery + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,331 recipes

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

  4. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,184 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Raw chicken
Forms the main structure of the mousseline once ground and pounded smooth.
Panada
Adds body and helps bind the chicken into a smooth, tender forcemeat.
Eggs
Set during steaming to hold the timbale together and give it a firm, sliceable texture.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, keeping the steamed mixture light and tender.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a smoother, more delicate mouthfeel.
Oysters
Contribute briny, savory flavor and tender bites throughout the timbale.

The step that matters

Rub the chicken and panada through a sieve. Pounding and sieving breaks up fibers and lumps so the forcemeat becomes smooth. Any remaining graininess will show in the finished timbale's texture.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, oyster, butter, egg, cream, nutmeg, pepper):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Cinnamonfits about as well
  4. Celerythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, oyster, butter, egg, cream, nutmeg, 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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