Name: Partridges, a LA Cerito
Ingredients: 3 red-legged partridges; quenelle force-meat made with the fillets of 2 partridges; 2 black truffles, diced; small piece of red tongue, diced; butter for spreading; string for tying; white poele (No. 2d0) for braising; raviolis (No. 375) for garnish; provençale sauce (No. 25) for serving

Why it works: Truffle and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,209 recipes. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓

Partridges, a LA Cerito

Ingredients

3 red-legged partridges
quenelle force-meat made with the fillets of 2 partridges
2 black truffles, diced
small piece of red tongue, diced
butter for spreading
string for tying
white poele (No. 2d0) for braising
raviolis (No. 375) for garnish
provençale sauce (No. 25) for serving

Directions

Prepare the partridges

Bone the partridges.
Fill the partridges with the quenelle forcemeat mixed with truffles and red tongue.
Truss the partridges to restore their shape.
Scald the red legs and insert them on each side.
Wrap each bird in a buttered napkin and tie the ends with string.

Braise

Braise the wrapped partridges in white poele over low heat for about 1 hour.
Ensure the partridges do not boil fast.
Remove the napkins and strings.
Drain excess moisture.

Serve

Place on a serving dish.
Garnish with raviolis.
Pour Provençale sauce over the partridges before serving.

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.

Truffle + buttertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,209 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Meat + truffletop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together527 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together15,338 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Meat + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,594 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Meat + saucetop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,167 recipes

Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Quenelle forcemeat: Adds a soft, moist, tender filling that keeps the birds juicy inside.
Black truffles: Contribute a strong, earthy aroma that perfumes the filling and the birds.
Red tongue: Adds richness and savoury flavour to the forcemeat filling.
Butter: Adds fat and richness, and helps the napkin wrapping keep the birds moist.

The step that matters

Keep the braising liquid barely simmering. A fast boil toughens the proteins in the partridge meat and can break up the delicate forcemeat filling, so the birds stay tender only with gentle, low heat.

“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.

Meat Croquettes52 recipes

Meatballs37 recipes

Mince Meat37 recipes

Meat Cakes35 recipes

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.

Partridges, a LA Cerito