Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Turkey Dressing
Ingredients
Directions
Rub together the bread crumbs and butter in a deep dish.
Mix in the herbs, salt, and pepper.
Chop the mushrooms and oysters, then add them to the mixture.
Stir in the beaten egg.
Gradually add warm water until the mixture sticks together, starting with 1 pint.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Bread + mushroomtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,536 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Pepper + mushroomtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + oystertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,184 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Bread crumbs
- Forms the bulk of the dressing and absorbs moisture from the water.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, coating the crumbs for a softer texture.
- Egg
- Binds the mixture together so it holds its shape.
- Mushrooms
- Adds moisture and earthy savoury flavour.
- Oysters
- Adds a briny, savoury flavour and some moisture.
The step that matters
Adding the warm water. Bread crumbs absorb liquid gradually, so adding water slowly until the mixture just holds together prevents a soggy or crumbly dressing.
“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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