Why it works: Butter and chicken are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,902 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓
To Farce Turk Cap, Melons, Small Gourds
Ingredients
Directions
Open a small hole in the top of the Turk cap or melons and scoop out a bit of the flesh.
Mix the scooped flesh with butter, mace, and coarse sea salt.
Fill the cavity with the butter mixture and place the top back on.
Prepare a ragout of your choice and mix it with the remaining pulp if needed.
Cover with the top and garnish as desired.
Serve on fried parsley or a napkin.
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 + chickentop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,902 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Melon + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together69 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Butter + macetop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,405 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Melon + macetop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together108 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
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Melon + chickentop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Butter and mace barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,405 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
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (melon, butter, chicken):
- Gingerfits better
- Garlicfits better
- Peppermintfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against melon, butter, chicken. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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