Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Larded Grouse
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Clean and wash the grouse.
Lard the breast and legs.
Insert a small skewer into the legs and through the tail, then tie firmly with twine.
Dredge the grouse with coarse sea salt and rub the breast with soft butter.
Dredge thickly with flour.
Place in a 400°F (200°C) oven.
Cook for 20 minutes for rare or 30 minutes for well done.
If using a tin kitchen, cook for 30 to 35 minutes.
When done, place on a hot dish spread with bread sauce.
Sprinkle fried crumbs over the grouse and sauce, and garnish with parsley.
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 + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + parsleytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,675 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + parsleytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, bread, sauce):
- Capersfits better
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
- Jalapenofits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, bread, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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