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Squab in Paper

Squab wrapped in buttered paper, baked or broiled until cooked.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Why it works: Squab and butter work together. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 48 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓

Squab in Paper

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Singe the squab and remove the pin feathers, head, feet, tips of wings, and crop.

  2. Split the squab through the back and clean it.

  3. Wipe the inside and outside with a damp cloth.

Bake

  1. Fold the squab in buttered paper and place it in a pan.

  2. Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for 25 to 40 minutes, turning frequently.

  3. Alternatively, broil over coals for 15 minutes.

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. Squab + buttertop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together48 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

Squab
Forms the main dish; its dense meat cooks through and browns in the oven or over coals.
Butter
Wrapped around the bird in paper, it adds moisture and richness as it cooks.

The step that matters

Turning the squab during baking. Turning the bird often lets heat reach all sides evenly, so the meat cooks through without drying out in one spot.

“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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