Name: Roast Goose a LA Mount Vernon
Ingredients: 1 young goose; mashed potatoes; lightly fried onions; apples; sugar

Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Roast Goose a LA Mount Vernon

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Stuff the young goose with mashed potatoes mixed with lightly fried onions.
Halve and pare the apples, then bake them in goose fat with a little sugar.

Roast and serve

Roast the stuffed goose until cooked through.
Serve the roasted goose with the baked apples.

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.

Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + appletop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together603 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Apple + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together16,478 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Onion + appletop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,206 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + sugartop 30% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Apple and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 16,478 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

Young goose: Provides the main meat and fat that drips out and cooks the apples.
Apples: Soften and sweeten in goose fat, adding a tart counterpoint to the rich meat.
Mashed potatoes: Fill the cavity, absorbing juices and keeping the meat moist as it roasts.
Lightly fried onions: Add savoury sweetness and aroma to the potato stuffing.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the apples brown lightly as they bake.