Why it works: Butter and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 28,563 recipes. Both carry trans-2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓
Roast Grouse
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
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
Place 1 ounce of butter inside each grouse.
Wrap each grouse in strips of bacon and place on a slice of dry toast in a dripping pan.
Roast and serve
As they begin to dry, moisten them well with stock.
Baste and turn the grouse several times while cooking.
Serve on a hot platter garnished with parsley or cress, with the toast cut into points.
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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Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Grouse
- Is the main protein, cooked whole so the meat stays moist under its wrapping.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, helping keep the lean birds moist and flavorful as they roast.
- Bacon
- Wraps the birds, basting them with its fat and adding savory, browned flavor.
- Dry toast
- Sits under the birds to catch drippings and soak up juices as a base for serving.
- Stock
- Moistens the drying birds, adding moisture and savory flavor during roasting.
The step that matters
Moisten as they begin to dry. Grouse is very lean, so once the surface starts to dry it can toughen and lose juiciness. Adding stock at that point adds moisture and helps keep the meat tender.
“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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