Name: Roast Turkey with Chestnuts
Ingredients: 1 fresh young turkey (about 15 pounds); 2 quarts large chestnuts; 2 tablespoons butter; 2 teaspoons coarse sea salt; a dash of pepper; 1 cup water; 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt (for water); parsley (for garnish); 1 pint stock

Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Roast Turkey with Chestnuts

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the turkey

Draw and singe the turkey.
Remove the shells from the chestnuts and mash them.
In a bowl, mix half of the mashed chestnuts with butter, salt, and pepper.
Stuff the mixture into the turkey's body and sew it up carefully.
Lard the breast quickly with good salt pork.
Place the turkey in a baking pan.
Add water and salt to the pan.

Roast and finish

Roast in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 15 minutes per pound, basting every 10 minutes.
When done, remove the strings and skewers.
Garnish with parsley.

Make the chestnut sauce

In the roasting pan, mix the remaining chestnuts with stock.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
Season with salt and pepper.
Serve the sauce in a sauce boat.

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.

Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Chestnut + parsleytop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together313 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Turkey + chestnuttop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together136 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Chestnut + peppertop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together826 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Turkey + buttertop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,592 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Turkey: Provides the main roast meat, which cooks through in the oven.
Chestnuts: Add starchy body and a mild, nutty flavour to the stuffing and sauce.
Butter: Adds richness and moisture to the chestnut stuffing.
Salt pork: Larding adds fat and savoury flavour to the lean breast meat.
Stock: Forms the liquid base of the chestnut sauce, adding savoury depth.

The step that matters

Roast in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 15 minutes per pound, basting every 10 minutes. Turkey is lean and can dry out or stay undercooked if timing and basting are off. Regular basting keeps the surface moist, and the stuffed cavity needs enough heat to reach a safe temperature throughout.

“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.