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Broiled Partridge

A whole partridge seasoned, breaded, and broiled, served with brown mushroom sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and bread 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 ↓

Broiled Partridge

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Prepare the partridge by dividing and flattening it.

  2. Season the bird with coarse sea salt and black pepper or cayenne.

  3. Dip the partridge in clarified butter, then coat it with fine bread crumbs, ensuring even coverage.

  4. For a better appearance, dip it a second time in butter and crumbs.

Cook and serve

  1. Broil the partridge over a clear fire for 20 to 30 minutes.

  2. Serve with brown mushroom sauce.

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.

  1. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  3. Bread + mushroomtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Pepper + mushroomtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,580 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together15,338 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 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

What each ingredient does

Partridge
Is the main protein that is cooked and served as the dish.
Clarified butter
Adds richness and helps the bread crumbs stick and brown during broiling.
Fine bread crumbs
Form a crisp, golden coating that protects the meat and adds texture.
Brown mushroom sauce
Adds savory, earthy flavor and moisture to the served bird.

The step that matters

Broil over a clear fire. Broiling needs steady, even heat so the crumb coating browns without burning before the lean meat cooks through. Too hot a fire scorches the crumbs, while too cool a fire leaves the bird pale and dry.

“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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