Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Turkey, to Boil
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Stuff the turkey with veal seasoning.
Cook
Boil the turkey poult for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Boil a large turkey for 2 hours or more.
Serve
Serve with white sauce, parsley and butter, or oyster sauce.
Garnish with lemon and serve with tongue or ham.
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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Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Butter + oystertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,184 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, 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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Oyster + hamtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together360 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Sauce + oystertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,233 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Turkey
- Provides the main meat, which becomes tender through long, gentle cooking in liquid.
- Veal seasoning
- Flavours the bird from inside as it cooks.
- White sauce
- Adds a creamy, moist sauce to the serving.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat to the finished dish.
The step that matters
Boiling the large turkey. A large bird has thick parts that heat slowly. Boiling it for the full 2 hours or more lets the centre cook through, while a shorter time risks undercooked meat near the bone.
“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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