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 ↓
Grouse, Roast
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the birds
Hang the birds for as long as possible.
Pluck and draw the grouse.
Wipe the birds inside and out, but do not wash them.
Truss the grouse.
Roast
Roast them over a sharp, clear fire.
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 + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Grouse
- Lean game meat that cooks quickly over high heat, so timing matters.
- Butter
- Adds fat and rich flavour and helps the skin brown.
The step that matters
Wipe the birds without washing them. Water left on the skin dilutes the surface and steams rather than browns it. A dry surface lets the skin take on colour in the fire.
“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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