Why it works: Mushroom and chicken are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,172 recipes. Both carry 1-butyl acetate, which smells fruity, banana. The science ↓
Vol-au-vent
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the shell
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Heat the empty vol-au-vent shell until very hot.
Fill and serve
Fill the shell with sweetbreads and mushrooms.
Add ½ cup or more of quenelles to the filling.
Alternatively, fill with chicken sautéed with mushrooms, adding wine, truffles, and cocks' combs if desired.
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.
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Mushroom + chickentop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,172 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-butyl acetate (fruity, banana).
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Mushroom + truffletop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,900 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Mushroom + winetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,632 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-propylphenol (allspice, anise).
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Chicken + truffletop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together756 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Chicken + winetop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,496 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Vol-au-vent crust
- Forms the crisp, flaky case that holds the filling.
- Sweetbreads
- Provide the tender, rich meat that forms the body of the filling.
- Mushrooms
- Add moisture and earthy savoury flavour to the filling.
- Quenelles
- Add a soft, delicate texture to the filling.
- Chicken
- Alternative protein that gives a mild, tender filling when sautéed.
The step that matters
Heat the empty vol-au-vent shell until very hot. A fully hot shell bakes through and crisps before the filling goes in. If it is not hot enough, the pastry stays soft and pale and can turn soggy once the moist filling is added.
“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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