Why it works: Butter and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 85,593 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Mallard Ducks or Canvasback Ducks Roasted
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Clean the ducks as you would a chicken, without scalding.
Rinse out the cavity.
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
Rub the ducks with butter, salt, and pepper.
Roast and serve
Place the ducks in the oven and roast until cooked through, about 20-30 minutes.
Let the ducks rest for a few minutes before serving.
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.
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Wild ducks
- Provide the main meat and fat, which renders during roasting and keeps the flesh moist.
- Butter
- Adds fat that promotes browning on the skin and carries flavor across the surface.
The step that matters
Roast until cooked through. Wild duck is lean and cooks quickly, so it can turn dry and tough if overcooked, yet stay unsafe if underdone. Checking doneness near the end of the time protects both texture and safety.
“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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