Why it works: Mustard and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,169 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Devilled Turkey
Ingredients
Directions
Place the jointed legs and wings on a grill and broil slowly.
In a bowl, mix pepper vinegar, mustard, celery sauce, fruit jelly, salt, and pepper to make the sauce.
Lay the broiled turkey on a hot dish.
Pour the sauce over the turkey and sprinkle pounded cracker on top.
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.
-
Mustard + celerytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,169 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Vinegar + mustardtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Mustard + saucetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,120 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Turkey legs and wings
- Provide the meat that is broiled and served with the sauce.
- Pepper vinegar
- Adds sharp acidity that cuts through the richness of the turkey.
- Made mustard
- Adds sharpness and a pungent flavor to the sauce.
- Fruit jelly
- Adds sweetness and body that balances the vinegar and mustard.
The step that matters
Broil slowly. Slow broiling lets the thick joints cook through without the outside burning. Fast, high heat can char the skin before the meat near the bone is done.
Swap the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (turkey, pepper, vinegar, mustard, sauce):
- Tarragonfits better
- Capersfits about as well
- Celerythe original
- Thymefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against turkey, pepper, vinegar, mustard, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
More deviled turkey recipes
You might also like
Cream of Celery Soup113 recipes
Turkey Soup71 recipes
Turkey Stuffing26 recipes
Celery Stew25 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.