Why it works: Pepper and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,609 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Roast Goose
Ingredients
Directions
Clean the goose, wash it, and wipe it dry.
Season the goose inside and out with pepper and coarse sea salt.
Make a dressing with bread crumbs, pepper, coarse sea salt, butter, sweet marjoram, and minced onion.
Fill the goose with the dressing and truss it firmly.
Place the goose on the spit.
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.
-
Pepper + marjoramtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,609 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Marjoram + oniontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,056 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Bread + marjoramtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,008 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl decanoate (grape, waxy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, bread, butter, marjoram):
- Capsicumfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, bread, butter, marjoram. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
More roast goose recipes
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Brown Bread461 recipes
White Bread80 recipes
Bread Omelette60 recipes
Oatmeal Bread51 recipes