Name: Thanksgiving Hash
Ingredients: chopped turkey; oysters; bread crumbs; 1 pint cream sauce

Why it works: Cream and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,787 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Thanksgiving Hash

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

chopped turkey
oysters
bread crumbs
1 pint cream sauce

Directions

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

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

Assemble and bake

Layer chopped turkey and oysters in a baking dish.
Spread bread crumbs over the top.
Pour 2 cups of cream sauce over the entire dish.
Bake for 20 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.

Cream + saucetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,787 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Turkey + breadtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together822 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Oyster + breadtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,545 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Oyster + saucetop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,233 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Turkey + oystertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together473 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Chopped turkey: Forms the bulk of the dish and provides the main savory protein.
Oysters: Adds a briny, savory flavor that stands out within the turkey.
Bread crumbs: Forms a topping that browns and adds texture as the dish bakes.
Cream sauce: Adds moisture and richness that keeps the turkey and oysters from drying out.

“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.