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Ballotines of Hare, with Cherry Salad

A hare ballotine braised in stock, sliced and coated with suprême or béchamel, set in aspic, garnished with cherry salad.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Sauce and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,787 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Ballotines of Hare, with Cherry Salad

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare and braise

  1. Bone the legs of the hare and fill them with game forcemeat or purée.

  2. Sew the legs closed and braise in stock for at least 1 hour.

Mask and set

  1. Once cold, slice the legs and mask with suprême or béchamel sauce.

  2. Let it set, then pour liquid aspic over the slices.

  3. Trim the edges when firm and place on a block of contrasting aspic cream.

Garnish and serve

  1. Garnish the sides with cherry salad and blocks of aspic cream or clear aspic jelly.

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. Sauce + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,787 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Mushroom + cherrytop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together203 recipes

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

  3. Mushroom + creamtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,500 recipes

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

  4. Mushroom + saucetop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,480 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Cream + cherrytop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together827 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

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

What each ingredient does

Hare
Forms the main meat, which becomes tender and moist through slow braising in stock.
Game forcemeat or purée
Provides a soft, rich stuffing that adds moisture and flavour inside the boned legs.
Stock
Braises the legs gently, keeping the meat moist and tender while it cooks.
Suprême or béchamel sauce
Coats the cold slices with a creamy layer that helps the aspic adhere smoothly.
Liquid aspic
Sets into a clear glossy glaze that seals and protects the sliced meat.

The step that matters

Sew the legs closed and braise gently. If the legs open or the braise boils hard, the forcemeat can leak and the meat can toughen. Gentle, sealed simmering keeps the filling in place and the meat tender.

Swap the cherry

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mushroom, sauce, cream):

  1. Avocadofits better
  2. Coconutfits better
  3. Strawberryfits better
  4. Cherrythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mushroom, sauce, cream. 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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