Name: Roast Duck
Ingredients: 1 duck; sage-and-onion stuffing; a little flour

Why it works: Sage and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,628 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Roast Duck

Ingredients

1 duck
sage-and-onion stuffing
a little flour

Directions

Choose a plump duck with thick, yellowish feet.
Truss the duck with the feet on, scalded and peeled, turned up close to the legs.
Run a skewer through the middle of each leg to plump the breast, securing it to the body.
Cut off the head, neck, and pinions at the first joint, twisting the feet at the back.
Stuff the duck and secure both ends with string to keep in the seasoning.
Hang the duck for a day or two before cooking for tenderness.
Prepare sage and onion stuffing sufficient for one duck.
Roast the duck over a brisk fire, basting well throughout cooking.
A few minutes before serving, lightly dredge with flour to create a frothy appearance.
Serve hot with good brown gravy poured around the duck and green peas on the side.

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.

Sage + oniontop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,628 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Sage + flourtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,115 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Onion + flourtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together32,460 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).