Why it works: Chicken and pork match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,417 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓
Eoasted Boned Chicken
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Spread the boned chicken skin side down on a board.
Turn the flesh of the legs and wings right side out.
Stuff the legs and wings with forcemeat.
Equalize the meat.
Place mignon fillets or strips of white meat next to the bone over the dark meat.
Dredge the chicken with coarse sea salt and black pepper.
Make a roll of the stuffing.
Lay the stuffing roll inside the chicken.
Truss
Draw the skin up.
Sew the skin together securely.
Turn the chicken over.
Position the legs and wings like a trussed fowl.
Tie the chicken securely.
Cover the chicken with slices of salt pork.
Roast and serve
Roast in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 20 minutes per pound.
Baste frequently.
Remove the pork during the last 15 minutes.
Dredge the chicken with flour.
Let it brown.
Serve with giblet or tomato sauce.
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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Chicken + porktop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,417 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
-
Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Chicken + tomatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,031 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
-
Pork + tomatotop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Pepper + porktop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,121 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Boned chicken
- Forms the whole body of the dish, so its meat cooks and carries the stuffing and seasoning.
- Forcemeat (stuffing)
- Fills the legs, wings and centre, adding moisture and a tender, flavourful interior as it cooks.
- Slices of salt pork
- Covers the bird, releasing fat that bastes the meat and adds savoury flavour.
- Flour
- Dusted on the surface, it helps the skin brown and crisp in the oven.
The step that matters
Remove the pork during the last 15 minutes. Salt pork has rendered fat that keeps the meat moist, but leaving it on too long can burn or make the skin greasy. Removing it late lets the chicken surface brown and crisp.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, pepper, pork, flour):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Spinachfits about as well
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, pepper, pork, flour. 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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