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Almond Forcemeat

A savory mixture of eggs, cream, almonds, breadcrumbs, and butter used to stuff poultry.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,115 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Almond Forcemeat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the almond mixture

  1. Beat the yolks of the eggs with the cream and nutmeg.

  2. Blanch and grind the almonds in a mortar, using egg white to moisten.

Combine and finish

  1. Add the ground almonds, bread crumbs, and butter to the egg mixture.

  2. Fold in the whisked egg whites until combined.

  3. Use the mixture to fill a capon or turkey.

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. Nutmeg + almondtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,115 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,245 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Cream + nutmegtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,920 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Yolks enrich and bind the mixture, while whipped whites lighten its texture.
Bread crumbs
Provide body and absorb moisture, giving the forcemeat a soft, stuffing-like structure.
Almonds
Add nutty flavor and a fine, tender texture when ground.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, keeping the forcemeat moist and tender.
Cream
Adds moisture and richness, softening the bread crumbs.

The step that matters

Folding in the whisked egg whites. Whites hold air that lightens the mixture. Overmixing or stirring vigorously deflates the foam, leaving a dense forcemeat instead of a light one.

“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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