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Deviled Turkey

A roast turkey joint seasoned with mustard, salt, cayenne, and butter, then broiled.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,430 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Deviled Turkey

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut deep gashes in the turkey joints.

  2. Fill the gashes with mixed mustard, coarse sea salt, and cayenne pepper.

Broil and serve

  1. Broil the turkey until heated through.

  2. Place on a very hot dish and spread with butter.

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. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Turkey + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,592 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  3. Turkey + peppertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,636 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  4. Turkey + mustardtop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together157 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Pepper + buttertop 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

Turkey joints
Provide the meaty base that the seasoning is pressed into and that is heated through.
Mixed mustard
Adds sharp, tangy flavor that soaks into the cut gashes.
Cayenne pepper
Adds a building, pungent heat that contrasts with the mild meat.
Butter
Adds fat and richness to the surface, giving a smooth, glossy finish.

The step that matters

Broil until heated through. Broiling delivers intense surface heat, so the exposed mustard and butter can scorch before the thick joints warm through. Watch the surface closely and move the turkey away from the heat if it browns too fast.

Swap the mustard

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (turkey, pepper, butter):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Carrotfits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Mustardthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against turkey, pepper, butter. 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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