Name: Blanc to Boil Chickens in
Ingredients: 1 lb veal, cut into small pieces; 1 lb fat bacon, cut into small pieces; 4 lb butter; 1 clove; 4 bay leaves; a bundle of sweet herbs; 1 shallot; boiling water

Why it works: Clove and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,677 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Blanc to Boil Chickens in

Ingredients

Directions

In a stewpan, combine veal, bacon, and butter. Do not allow to brown.
Pour boiling water over the meat while it is still white.
Add the clove, bay leaves, sweet herbs, and shallot.
Simmer for about 1 hour.
Strain the mixture through a fine sieve over the chicken.

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.

Clove + shallottop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,677 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Butter + shallottop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,426 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Veal + shallottop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together920 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Veal + buttertop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,381 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Butter + clovetop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,045 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).