Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Turkey, Roasted
Ingredients
Directions
Wipe the inside of the turkey clean with a wet cloth.
Cut the breast-bone through on each side close to the back.
Draw the legs close to the crop.
Cover the breast with a cloth and beat the breast-bone flat with a rolling pin.
Scald the feet, peel off the outer skin, and cut away the claws, leaving the legs on.
Hang the turkey for 5 to 14 days and truss it according to the previous instructions.
Fill the inside with stuffing.
Sew the skin of the neck over the back with a trussing needle or fasten it with a small skewer.
Run a long skewer through the pinion and thigh, passing it through the opposite pinion and thigh.
Insert another skewer through the small part of the leg, close to the outside of the body.
Clean the liver and gizzard and tuck them between the pinions, turning the points of the pinions on the back.
Pass a string over the points of the skewers and tie it securely at the back to keep the bird trussed.
Cover the breast with buttered paper.
Place the bird on the spit or roasting jack, setting it at a distance from a bright fire.
Baste the bird with drippings from the pan.
Just before the turkey is done, remove the paper.
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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Turkey + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,592 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Turkey + vealtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together393 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Turkey + flourtop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together963 recipes
Shared aroma: eugenol (clove, spicy).
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Veal + buttertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,381 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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