Why it works: Chicken and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,888 recipes. Both carry acetic acid hexyl ester, which smells sweet, green. The science ↓
Beoiled Chicken
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Singe and split the chicken down the back.
Wash the chicken in cold water with baking soda until clean, then dry with a cloth.
Season the chicken with salt, pepper, and olive oil or butter, rubbing it in well.
Cook and serve
Broil the chicken on a double gridiron for 10 minutes on each side over a clear fire, or bake in a hot oven (400°F/200°C) with the inside down for 30 minutes.
Garnish with breakfast bacon and cress, and serve with tartare sauce.
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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Chicken + olivetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,888 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid hexyl ester (sweet, green).
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Pepper + olivetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,263 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Chicken + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,958 recipes
Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).
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Olive + saucetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,568 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Chicken + saucetop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,513 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chicken
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooking to tender meat while the skin browns.
- Baking soda
- Raises the water's alkalinity, which helps the chicken skin brown and crisp during cooking.
- Olive oil or butter
- Adds fat that carries seasoning and promotes browning on the skin.
The step that matters
Broiling or baking the chicken. Cooking time and heat must be matched to the split bird so the thick parts cook through while the skin browns, without drying the meat.
“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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