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Mock Duck

A steak rolled with bread, potatoes, celery, onion, and egg, baked until cooked.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Mock Duck

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the stuffing

  1. Soak the bread in water and squeeze out the excess.

  2. In a bowl, combine the soaked bread, chopped onion, diced potatoes, chopped celery, egg, and season with salt and pepper.

Roll and roast

  1. Spread the mixture over the steak, roll it up, and tie it securely.

  2. Place the rolled steak in a roasting pan, add a little water, and roast in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C).

  3. Baste the steak from time to time and serve on a hot platter with gravy.

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. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  2. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Potato + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 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

Round steak
Forms the outer wrap that holds the stuffing and becomes tender during slow roasting.
Stale bread
Absorbs moisture and gives the stuffing a light, binding body.
Egg
Binds the stuffing so it holds together when rolled and sliced.
Potatoes
Adds starch and body to the stuffing, keeping it moist during roasting.
Onion
Adds aroma and savory flavor to the stuffing.

The step that matters

Securing the roll before roasting. If the steak is not tied tightly, the stuffing can leak out and the roll can open during cooking. A firm, even roll keeps the filling inside and cooks the meat more evenly.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, potato, butter, onion, egg, pepper):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Garlicfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Celerythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against bread, potato, butter, onion, egg, pepper. 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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