Name: Roast Turkey
Ingredients: 1 plump turkey; flour for dredging; gravy; watercress (optional)

Why it works: Flour and watercress match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 340 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Roast Turkey

Ingredients

1 plump turkey
flour for dredging
gravy
watercress (optional)

Directions

Pluck, draw, and singe the turkey.
Skin the neck and fasten the head under the wing.
Turn the legs at the first joint and bring the feet close to the thighs.
Dredge the turkey lightly with flour about 10 minutes before serving.
Baste well until nicely frothed.
Serve immediately with a little gravy in the dish and some in a tureen.
Garnish with watercress if available.

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.

Flour + watercresstop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together340 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Turkey + flourtop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together963 recipes

Shared aroma: eugenol (clove, spicy).
Turkey + watercresstop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together24 recipes

Shared aroma: eugenol (clove, spicy).