Why it works: Butter and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,525 recipes. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓
Pheasant, Broiled
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Divide the pheasant into neat joints and season with coarse sea salt and a little cayenne pepper.
Fry lightly in hot butter until golden.
Press the joints between two dishes until cold.
Coat and broil
Coat the joints carefully with beaten egg and breadcrumbs.
Broil over a clear fire for 15 to 20 minutes, brushing with warm butter at frequent intervals.
Serve
Arrange the broiled pheasant in a pyramidal form on a hot dish and serve with sauce in a sauceboat.
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 + mushroomtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Pepper + mushroomtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Pheasant + mushroomtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together145 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Pheasant + peppertop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together462 recipes
Shared aroma: sabinene (woody, terpenic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pheasant
- Provides the meat that is cut into joints and cooked through by broiling.
- Butter
- Frying gives golden colour and flavour, and brushing during broiling keeps the surface moist.
- Egg
- Beaten egg acts as a binder so the breadcrumbs adhere to the joints.
- Breadcrumbs
- Form a crisp, browned crust over the joints during broiling.
The step that matters
Pressing the joints until cold. Pressing flattens and firms the joints so the coating stays even and adheres well. Cooling the joints firms the fat and helps the egg and crumbs hold during broiling.
“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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