Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Goose Stuffed with Sauerkraut
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.
Prepare
Prepare the goose for roasting and fill it with sauerkraut, then sew it up.
Simmer
Place the goose in a kettle and cover it with sauerkraut and boiling water.
Simmer for 3 hours.
Roast and serve
Transfer the goose to a dripping pan, dredge with butter and flour, and bake at 400°F (200°C) for about 1 hour or until brown.
Serve the sauerkraut on a hot platter and place the goose on top.
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.
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Goose
- Forms the main body of the dish, supplying the rich meat and fat that cook down during roasting.
- Sauerkraut
- Adds moisture and a sharp acidity that balances the richness of the goose.
- Butter
- Carries fat over the surface, promoting browning and a crisp, golden skin.
- Flour
- Combines with the butter and fat on the surface to help brown and crisp the skin.
The step that matters
Browning the goose at the end. Goose skin is fatty and can stay pale or flabby if the oven step is too short or too cool. The dredging of butter and flour helps the surface brown, so the goose should be watched until it is golden.
“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.
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.