Why it works: Sage and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 642 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Goose Marinaded
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the goose
Bone the goose and stuff it with a mixture of sage, onions, apples, bread crumbs, beef marrow, red wine, nutmeg, pepper, salt, lemon peel, and egg yolks.
Sew the goose up and fry it until light brown.
Stew and make the gravy
Place the goose in a deep stewpan with 2 quarts of gravy, cover, and stew for 2 hours.
Remove the goose and keep it warm.
Skim the fat from the gravy and add lemon pickle, browning, red wine, anchovy, mace, pepper, and salt.
Thicken the gravy with flour and butter.
Serve
Serve the goose with the strained gravy poured over it.
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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Sage + nutmegtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together642 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Sage + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,388 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Onion + beeftop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Apple + red winetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together148 recipes
Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Bind the stuffing so it holds together when cooked.
- Beef marrow
- Adds richness and moisture to the stuffing.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb juices and give the stuffing body.
- Apples
- Add moisture and a tart sweetness that balances the rich goose.
- Flour
- Thickens the gravy into a smooth, coating sauce.
The step that matters
Remove the goose and keep it warm before finishing the gravy. Fat is skimmed from the gravy while the bird rests, so the meat stays hot and juicy and the sauce can be thickened without overcooking the goose.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sage, onion, bread, beef, red wine, nutmeg, pepper):
- Lemonfits better
- Limefits better
- Plumfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sage, onion, bread, beef, red wine, nutmeg, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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