Why it works: Mace and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
To Roast a Pheasant
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the bird
Truss the pheasant without the head.
Pluck off the feathers carefully.
Cut a slit in the back of the neck to remove the crop.
Draw the bird in the usual way.
Either wipe the inside very clean with a damp cloth, or pour water through it.
Wipe the outside also, but with a dry cloth.
Cut off the toes.
Turn the head of the bird under the wing, with the bill laid straight along the breast.
Skewer the legs, which must not be crossed.
Roast and serve
Flour the pheasant well.
Lay it to a brisk fire.
Baste it constantly and plentifully with well-flavoured butter.
Roast for about 3/4 hour, adjusting as desired for underdone or thorough roasting.
Serve with bread-sauce and good brown gravy.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 12 |
| Cayenne | 1 tsp (1.8g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Mace | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
-
Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,557 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
-
Egg + nutmegtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together24,744 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
-
Egg + macetop 35% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,587 recipes
Egg and nutmeg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter (in the method)
- Basting fat that carries flavour and promotes browning on the skin.
- Eggs
- Not clearly used in the method; leave out of the role list.
The step that matters
Basting the bird constantly. Frequent basting keeps the surface moist and lets the butter brown the skin evenly, so the lean breast does not dry out over the roasting time.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, nutmeg):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Allspicefits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, nutmeg. 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.
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