Why it works: Flour and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,078 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Partridge Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pluck, draw, and clean the partridges inside and out.
Cut off the head, leaving enough skin on the neck to skewer it back.
Bring the legs close to the breast and skewer the pinions and thighs together.
Roast and serve
Roast the trussed partridges over a bright fire, basting frequently.
A few minutes before serving, dust with flour and froth.
Serve hot with gravy poured over the bird and alongside bread sauce.
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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Flour + saucetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,078 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Bread + saucetop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,934 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + breadtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,383 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and bread barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,383 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
- Partridges
- Form the main body of the dish, cooked whole and trussed to hold their shape over the fire.
- Flour
- Dusted over the birds near the end to help them froth and brown on the surface.
The step that matters
Basting during the roast over a bright fire. Lean game birds dry out easily over high heat. Frequent basting with fat keeps the meat moist while the skin browns and crisps.
“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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