Name: Turkey, Stuffed with Sausage-meat
Ingredients: 1 turkey (about 8 pounds); 3 pounds sausage meat; 1 pound veal forcemeat; minced herbs (optional); cold stock or water (as needed); flour (for dusting); coarse sea salt (to taste)

Why it works: Turkey and meat work together. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 540 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓

Turkey, Stuffed with Sausage-meat

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Bone the turkey, removing all bones except for the wings.
Mix sausage meat with veal forcemeat and herbs if desired, moistening with cold stock or water.
Fill the turkey with the sausage mixture, then tie the ends and truss the bird securely.

Roast and serve

Dust the turkey with flour and tie it to a spit for roasting.
Place the turkey at a distance from a clear fire and baste liberally until cooked.
When done, remove from heat, garnish with sausage and forcemeat balls, and serve on a hot dish.

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.

Turkey + meattop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together540 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Turkey + vealtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together393 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Meat + vealtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,890 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Turkey + flourtop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together963 recipes

Shared aroma: eugenol (clove, spicy).
Veal + flourtop 28% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together5,886 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Turkey: Forms the outer shell that encloses and cooks the stuffing as it roasts.
Sausage meat: Provides the main savoury filling, adding fat and richness to the bird.
Veal forcemeat: Binds the stuffing so it holds together and stays tender when sliced.

The step that matters

Roasting at a distance from the fire with frequent basting. Roasting slowly at a distance heats the stuffed bird through without scorching the skin, while basting adds moisture and promotes even browning. Stuffed birds are dense, so the centre needs time to reach a safe temperature.

“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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Meat Croquettes52 recipes

Veal Patties50 recipes

Meatballs37 recipes

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Turkey, Stuffed with Sausage-meat