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Cray-fish, Creamed

A creamy crayfish dish with truffle, mushroom, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Truffle and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,900 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Cray-fish, Creamed

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Mince the meat of the crayfish.

  2. Chop the truffle and mushroom.

  3. Cook the mushroom in a little butter until soft.

Make the sauce

  1. Combine the white roux, cream, and milk in a saucepan.

  2. Stir until boiling.

  3. Add the crayfish butter and season with salt and pepper.

  4. Stir in the minced crayfish, mushroom, and truffle; do not boil again.

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. Truffle + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,900 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  4. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  5. Truffle + buttertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,209 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Crayfish (in the method)
Provides the main flavour and meaty texture of the dish.
White roux
Thickens the cream and milk into a smooth, creamy sauce.
Cream
Adds richness and body, giving the sauce a silky mouthfeel.
Milk
Thins the cream base while keeping the sauce smooth and pourable.
Truffle
Adds a strong, earthy aroma that perfumes the sauce.
Button mushroom
Contributes savoury, earthy depth and a soft, tender texture.

The step that matters

Stir in the minced crayfish, mushroom, and truffle; do not boil again.. Once the sauce is thickened, boiling can cause the cream to split and break the roux's smooth texture. Gentle heat keeps the sauce creamy and preserves the delicate aroma of the truffle.

“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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