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Broiled Squabs

Broiled squabs served on toast with crabapple jelly.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,964 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Broiled Squabs

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the squabs

  1. Clean the squabs and soak them in salt water for 10 minutes.

  2. Pat them dry with a clean towel.

  3. Split the squabs down the back and broil them over a clear coal fire.

  4. Season with salt and pepper.

Finish and serve

  1. Place them on a heated platter and generously butter or grease with goose fat.

  2. Cover with a deep platter.

  3. Remove the crust from the bread and toast it for each squab.

  4. Dip the toast in boiling water for an instant.

  5. Serve each squab on a piece of toast with crabapple jelly on the side.

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. Pepper + breadtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,964 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  2. Squab + peppertop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together35 recipes

    Shared aroma: sabinene (woody, terpenic).

  3. Squab + breadtop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Squabs
The main protein, cooked by broiling so the flesh becomes tender and the skin browns.
Goose fat
Adds fat for richness and helps the skin brown and stay moist on the platter.
Bread
Forms a absorbent base that soaks up juices from the squab.
Crabapple jelly
Adds tart sweetness that balances the rich, fatty meat.

The step that matters

Split the squabs down the back and broil them over a clear coal fire. A clear, steady coal fire gives even heat, so the birds cook through without scorching. Too much flame chars the outside before the centre is done.

“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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