Name: Boned Turkey
Ingredients: 1 turkey; Cold lamb or veal; Pork, chopped fine; Salt; Pepper; Sage or savory; Juice of 1 lemon; Butter; Salt and water for basting

Why it works: Sage and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 887 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Boned Turkey

Ingredients

Directions

With a sharp knife, slit the skin down the back of the turkey.
Separate the flesh from the bones using your fingers and a knife until you reach the wings and legs.
Unjoint the wings and legs from the body, cutting through to the bone, and remove the bones.
Stuff the turkey with a mixture of cold lamb or veal, chopped pork, salt, pepper, sage or savory, and lemon juice.
Sew the turkey into shape, tucking the ends of the wings under and pressing the legs close to the back.
Tie the turkey firmly to ensure a plump and smooth surface.
Lard the top with two or three rows of fat.
Bake until thoroughly done, basting often with salt, water, and a little butter.
Carve into slices and serve with tomato sauce or meat jelly.

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.

Sage + lemontop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together887 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together27,047 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Pepper + sagetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,388 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Lamb + porktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together623 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Turkey + porktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together830 recipes

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