Why it works: Mustard and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Devilled Goose
Ingredients
Directions
Broil the legs and wings of the cold roast goose on a gridiron until heated through.
In a bowl, mix together butter, pepper, coarse sea salt, mixed mustard, and sharp vinegar.
Pour the mixture over the heated goose and serve very hot.
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.
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Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,067 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Butter + mustardtop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,003 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Goose legs and wings
- Provide the main meat, which is reheated until hot all the way through.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that carries the seasonings and coats the meat.
- Mixed mustard
- Adds sharp, pungent flavour that cuts through the richness of the meat.
- Sharp vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the sauce and balances the fat.
Swap the mustard
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper, vinegar):
- Capsicumfits better
- Mustardthe original
- Cabbagefits less well
- Onionfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper, vinegar. 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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