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To Broil Partridges

Partridges are soaked in saltwater, buttered, seasoned, and broiled over coals until browned, then served warm.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 85,593 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

To Broil Partridges

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak the partridges in saltwater for 1-2 hours.

  2. Remove the partridges from the saltwater and wipe them dry.

  3. Rub them with fresh butter, pepper, and salt.

Broil

  1. Broil the split side over bright coals, turning until the top is light brown, ensuring they are mainly cooked from the underside.

  2. Rub with more fresh butter when done.

Keep warm and serve

  1. If not serving immediately, place them in a shallow tin bucket over boiling water to keep warm.

  2. Before serving, sprinkle with browned powdered cracker.

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. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Partridges
Provide the lean meat that is broiled and served as the main dish.
Fresh butter
Adds moisture and richness, helping the surface brown and stay tender over coals.
Black pepper
Adds sharp aroma and gentle heat to the seasoned skin.
Powdered cracker
Browned on top at the end, adding a toasted, crisp coating and savory flavor.

The step that matters

Broil the split side over bright coals. Lean game birds dry out quickly, so cooking mainly from the underside with turning and buttering keeps the meat moist while the top only browns lightly.

“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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