Why it works: Chicken and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,172 recipes. Both carry 1-butyl acetate, which smells fruity, banana. The science ↓
Broiled Chicken
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Prepare the chicken as for boiling.
Cut it in half through the back, then flatten it.
Grill
Place the chicken on a cold grill over a medium fire.
Transfer to a plate and lard with butter.
Season the inside with salt and pepper to taste.
Return to the grill and turn until fully cooked, about 20 minutes.
Serve
Serve hot.
Add a dab of butter and plenty of stewed mushrooms.
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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Chicken + mushroomtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,172 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-butyl acetate (fruity, banana).
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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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Pepper + mushroomtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Chicken + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,902 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Chicken + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,958 recipes
Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Whole chicken
- Forms the main protein, cooked through over the grill fire.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, keeping the meat moist as it cooks.
- Stewed mushrooms
- Adds moisture and savoury flavour to the finished plate.
The step that matters
Return to the grill and turn until fully cooked. Chicken must reach a safe internal temperature throughout. Cutting it flat helps even heat penetration, but thick areas can stay undercooked while the outside browns, so check the thickest parts before serving.
“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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