Name: Roast Goose a LA Mount Vernon
Ingredients: 1 young goose; 2 cups mashed potatoes; 1 onion, lightly fried; 2 apples, halved and pared; 1 tablespoon sugar; goose grease

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

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Stuff the young goose with mashed potatoes mixed with lightly fried onions.
Place the stuffed goose in a roasting pan.

Roast and serve

Arrange the halved apples around the goose, drizzle with goose grease, and sprinkle with sugar.
Roast in the oven until the goose is cooked through and golden brown.
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: Forms the main body of the dish and supplies the rich fat that bastes it as it roasts.
Mashed potatoes: Fill the cavity, adding moisture and absorbing juices as the goose roasts.
Apples: Roast around the goose, softening and absorbing fat while adding a mild sweetness.
Sugar: Sprinkled over the apples, it promotes browning and adds sweetness.