Why it works: Lemon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Wild Duck, Roast
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Singe and wash the ducks inside.
Stuff the ducks with bread crumbs soaked in port or claret.
Truss the ducks securely and dust with flour.
Roast
Roast over a clear, brisk fire, basting constantly for 15 to 25 minutes.
Finish and serve
Serve on a dish with an uncut lemon on each side and wild duck gravy in a tureen.
Score the breast of the duck.
Squeeze lemon over it.
Pour a glass of port on top.
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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Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Flour + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 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
- Wild ducks
- Provide the meat, which is the main component of the dish.
- Port or claret
- Adds moisture and sweet, fruity flavor to the birds as they cook.
- Flour
- Dusted on the trussed birds, it helps the skin brown and crisp.
- Lemon
- Its acidity brightens the rich duck fat when squeezed over the meat.
The step that matters
Roast over a brisk fire while basting constantly. Brisk heat browns and crisps the skin, while frequent basting keeps the surface moist and carries flavor back over the meat. Neglecting it risks dry meat or scorched skin.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, pepper):
- Limefits better
- Lemonthe original
- Raisinfits about as well
- Avocadofits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, pepper. 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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