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Galantine of Turkey

A cold, stuffed turkey made with tongue, sausage meat, bacon, and seasonings, served with aspic jelly.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Galantine of Turkey

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the filling

  1. Bone the turkey and trim the tongue.

  2. Chop the trimmings finely and mix with the sausage meat.

  3. Lay open the turkey and pack it with the tongue, sausage meat, bacon, and seasoning.

  4. Fold the turkey together, roll it in a clean cloth, and tie it securely.

Poach

  1. Place it in a large pot with water, turkey bones, onions, carrots, and bouquet garni.

  2. Bring to a boil, skim well, and let it simmer gently for 2-3 hours.

  3. Remove the turkey, press it between heavy weights, and refrigerate overnight.

Glaze and decorate

  1. Strain the gravy and reduce it to a glaze.

  2. Unwrap the turkey, glaze it nicely, and cut a slice off one end.

  3. Chop the aspic jelly into fine and larger pieces.

  4. Decorate the top with the fine pieces and arrange the larger ones around the dish.

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. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Clove + carrottop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Pepper + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Turkey
Forms the outer shell and the main body that holds the filling together when rolled and tied.
Sausage meat
Adds richness and a moist, tender texture to the filling as it cooks.
Bacon
Adds fat and savory flavor that melts into the filling during the long simmer.
Tongue
Contributes a rich, tender texture and meaty flavor to the filling.
Aspic jelly
Sets into a clear glaze that gives the finished galantine a smooth, glossy coating.

The step that matters

Simmering gently after skimming. A gentle simmer keeps the turkey tender and the meat from toughening or breaking apart, while skimming removes impurities that would cloud the broth and gravy.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (turkey, meat, pepper, clove, carrot):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Turnipfits better
  3. Parsnipfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against turkey, meat, pepper, clove, carrot. 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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