Why it works: Mace and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 35% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,587 recipes. The science ↓
Roast Turkey with Chestnuts
Ingredients
Directions
Stuff the breast of the turkey with a forcemeat made of 1 lb. of bread crumbs, rind of half a lemon, 1 tablespoonful of herbs, 3 oz. butter, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoonful pounded mace, salt and pepper.
Slit some chestnuts across the top and parboil them, peel them, and stuff the inside of the turkey with them and small pieces of butter; pepper and salt.
Roast it, basting it well, and serve with bread and sauce.
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. See the original page.
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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Mace + eggtop 35% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,587 recipes
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Bind the forcemeat so it holds together in the breast.
- Butter (in the method)
- Adds richness and moisture to the forcemeat and the stuffing.
- Bread crumbs (in the method)
- Form the bulk of the forcemeat and soak up fat and juices.
- Chestnuts (in the method)
- Add a starchy, mild, nutty body to the stuffing.
The step that matters
Basting the turkey. Regular basting moistens the surface as it roasts, helping the skin brown evenly and reducing the chance of dry meat.
“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.
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