Why it works: Marjoram and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓
For Roasting a Turkey
Ingredients
Directions
Chop the herbs as small as possible and mix with suet, spices, and eggs.
Add enough grated bread to create a proper stuffing consistency.
Fill the crop of the turkey with the stuffing and paper the breast.
Place the turkey at a good distance from the fire.
When it looks plump and begins to smoke, baste it and dredge with flour.
Once cooked, serve with strong beef gravy and garnish with lemon.
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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Marjoram + thymetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,225 recipes
Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).
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Thyme + winter savorytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together780 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Marjoram + winter savorytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together455 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
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Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,057 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Parsley + marjoramtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,979 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (parsley, marjoram, thyme, winter savory, lemon, nutmeg, egg):
- Sagefits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Allspicefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against parsley, marjoram, thyme, winter savory, lemon, nutmeg, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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