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Ducklings, Roasted

Roasted ducklings stuffed with onion mixture and served with a sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 18 ingredients
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Why it works: Sage and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,388 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Ducklings, Roasted

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the stuffing

  1. Boil the onions for 10-12 minutes, then chop them finely.

  2. Mix the chopped onions with bread crumbs, sage, pepper, mustard, brandy, melted butter, and salt to taste.

  3. Alternatively, combine bread crumbs, butter, parsley, sage, lemon peel, shallots, pepper, and salt for stuffing.

Roast

  1. Stuff the ducklings with the mixture and roast them in a 400°F (200°C) oven.

  2. Baste the ducklings steadily for about 30 minutes.

Make the sauce and serve

  1. Serve with the drippings, adding lemon juice, soy sauce, cayenne, and stock if needed.

  2. Thicken the sauce and serve in a tureen.

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.

  1. Sage + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,388 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Onion + mustardtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,259 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Sage + mustardtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together372 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Onions
Add bulk and moisture to the stuffing, with a savory base flavour once chopped.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, helping the stuffing stay moist and flavourful.
Bread crumbs
Absorb juices and give the stuffing body, so it holds together rather than turning wet.
Brandy
Adds a distinct aroma and a warm, fruity note to the stuffing.
Soy sauce
Adds savory depth and colour to the drippings used for the sauce.

The step that matters

Basting the ducklings steadily. Basting keeps the surface moist and helps the skin brown evenly while fat renders out. Letting the drippings dry out can scorch the skin and leave the meat tough.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, sage, pepper, flour, mustard, brandy, butter):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Lettucefits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, sage, pepper, flour, mustard, brandy, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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