Why it works: Marjoram and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 687 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
To Roast a Turkey
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the turkey
Select a young turkey with smooth legs and bright eyes.
Remove pin feathers with tweezers.
Cut out the oil bag above the tail.
Singe off hair by quickly turning the turkey over a flame.
Cut off the legs at the joint above the feet.
Trim the neck if necessary.
Make an incision along the backbone to remove the crop and gall bag carefully.
Wash the liver, heart, and gizzard in water.
Wash the turkey in several waters.
Stuff and truss
Prepare to stuff the turkey.
Mix bread crumbs, salt, marjoram or thyme, butter, and enough milk to moisten.
Stuff the turkey.
Sew it up.
Tie the neck skin with twine.
Skewer the turkey to secure the legs and wings.
Place the turkey on a spit.
Roast
Salt and flour the turkey.
Roast slowly with a little water.
Roast a 12-pound turkey for 3 hours or a 6-7 pound turkey for 1.5 hours.
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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Marjoram + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together687 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Marjoram + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,609 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Turkey
- Provides the main protein and bulk of the dish, cooking through during slow roasting.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb milk and butter in the stuffing, keeping it moist and giving it body.
- Butter
- Adds fat that enriches the stuffing and promotes flavour and moisture.
- Milk
- Moistens the bread crumbs so the stuffing holds together without becoming dry.
- Sweet marjoram or thyme
- Adds a fragrant herbal aroma that complements the turkey and stuffing.
The step that matters
Roast slowly with a little water. Slow roasting at moderate heat lets the thick meat cook through near the bone without the outside drying out. Adding a little water helps keep the pan moist and limits scorching.
Swap the marjoram
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (turkey, bread, butter, milk, pepper, nutmeg):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Sagefits about as well
- Thymefits about as well
- Marjoramthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against turkey, bread, butter, milk, pepper, nutmeg. 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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