Why it works: Pepper and summer savory work together. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 671 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Roast Rabbit
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.
Simmer veal and pork in water to cover for 2 hours.
Chop the meat finely and mix with rolled crackers, salt, pepper, summer savory, butter, and broth.
Heat the stuffing mixture on the fire.
Prepare the rabbit by removing the head, opening the vent, and cleaning it.
Season the rabbit with salt and pepper.
Stuff the rabbit with the hot dressing and sew up the opening.
Position the rabbit on its knees and skewer it.
Rub the rabbit thickly with butter and dredge with flour.
Place the rabbit in a baking pan with hot water at the bottom.
Bake for 30 minutes at 400°F (200°C), basting frequently.
Serve with a border of mashed potatoes and pour gravy over the rabbit.
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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Pepper + summer savorytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together671 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Veal + porktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,930 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Pork + meattop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,208 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Pork + summer savorytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together239 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
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Pork + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,933 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the summer savory
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, pork, pepper, butter, meat):
- Sagefits better
- Thymefits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Summer savorythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, pork, pepper, butter, meat. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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