Why it works: Mushroom and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,571 recipes. Both carry trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Duck, with Olives
Ingredients
Directions
Braise the duck
Braise the duck until tender.
Make the sauce
Strain the gravy and add the sliced mushrooms.
Soak the olives for 3 hours, then remove the pits.
Add the olives to the gravy and bring to a boil.
Finish and serve
Place the duck in the gravy and simmer for 20 minutes.
Serve the duck on a hot dish with the sauce poured over.
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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Mushroom + olivetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,571 recipes
Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Olive + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,263 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Mushroom + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Duck
- Provides the main meat, and its fat and juices enrich the gravy.
- Mushrooms
- Add earthy, savoury flavour and body to the gravy.
- Olives
- Add briny, salty notes that balance the richness of the duck and gravy.
The step that matters
Simmer the duck gently in the gravy. Keeping the gravy at a gentle simmer rather than a hard boil helps the duck stay tender and prevents the meat from toughening. Vigorous boiling tightens muscle proteins and can dry the outer meat while the sauce reduces too fast.
“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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