Why it works: Butter and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 85,593 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Pigeons, Roast
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Ensure the pigeons are fresh, then pluck, draw, and wash them thoroughly.
Split the backs, rub the birds with butter, and season inside with pepper and salt.
Cook and serve
Place the pigeons over a moderate fire and broil for 20 to 30 minutes, basting frequently.
Serve hot, garnished with fried parsley, and with a side of parsley and butter.
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 + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pigeons
- Provide the meat that is the centre of the dish.
- Butter
- Adds moisture and richness, and helps the skin brown while broiling.
The step that matters
Basting frequently during broiling. Pigeon is lean and can dry out over direct heat. Regular basting with butter keeps the surface moist and encourages even browning.
“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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