Name: To Roast Larks and Wheat-ears
Ingredients: larks or wheat-ears; 1 yolk of egg; bread crumbs; butter; coarse sea salt; fried bread crumbs; parsley

Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

To Roast Larks and Wheat-ears

Ingredients

Directions

Clean the larks or wheat-ears thoroughly.
Dip each bird in the yolk of egg, then roll in bread crumbs.
Place a small piece of butter inside each bird.
Skewer the birds on a spit.
Baste with plenty of butter while roasting.
Sprinkle sifted bread crumbs over the birds as they roast.
Roast for 12 to 15 minutes.
Serve with fried bread crumbs and garnish with fried crumbs or crisp parsley.

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.

Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Wheat + breadtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together209 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Wheat + parsleytop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together345 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,662 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Wheat + buttertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,002 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).