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 an ounce of butter inside each grouse.
Wrap each grouse in strips of bacon and place on a slice of dry toast in a roasting pan.
Roast and serve
As they begin to dry, moisten the grouse with stock.
Baste and turn the grouse several times while cooking.
Serve on a hot platter garnished with parsley or cress, and cut the toast 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 meat, cooked whole so it stays juicy inside its skin.
- Butter
- Adds fat and moisture inside the bird, helping it stay tender as it roasts.
- Bacon
- Wraps the birds, basting them with rendered fat and crisping as they roast.
- Stock
- Moistens the grouse as the surface dries, adding moisture and savoury flavour.
The step that matters
As they begin to dry, moisten the grouse with stock.. Lean game dries out quickly in dry oven heat. Adding liquid at the right moment keeps the surface moist and helps the drippings form a flavourful base.
“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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