Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Goose Stuffed with Sauerkraut
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the goose
Stuff the goose with sauerkraut and sew it up.
Place the goose in a large kettle.
Cover the goose with 2 quarts of sauerkraut.
Add boiling water to cover the whole.
Cook and roast
Cook for 3 hours.
Remove the goose.
Place it in a baking pan.
Baste the goose with melted butter.
Dredge the breast thickly with flour.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until nicely browned, about 1 hour.
Serve
Serve on a bed of boiled sauerkraut.
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.
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Goose
- Provides the meat and rich fat that flavour the dish and keep it moist during long cooking.
- Sauerkraut
- Adds acidity and aroma, and its moisture keeps the stuffing and goose tender while cooking.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat that helps the skin brown and gives the surface a richer flavour.
- Flour
- Coats the breast so its surface dries and browns more evenly in the oven.
The step that matters
Bake until nicely browned. After long moist cooking the skin is pale and soft. A hot oven with butter and flour on the surface drives browning and crisping, so the goose must be dried and baked long enough to brown well.
“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.
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe 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.