Why it works: Sage and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,388 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Roast Goose
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Prepare the stuffing by mixing bread crumbs, butter, sage, black pepper, salt, and chopped onion.
Stuff the goose loosely and stitch the openings securely.
Roast
Place the goose in a baking pan with a little water.
Baste frequently with a mixture of salt and water (add vinegar if desired).
Turn the goose often to ensure even browning.
Bake for at least 2 hours or until fully cooked.
Remove the goose from the pan and pour off the fat.
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.
-
Sage + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,388 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Sage + oniontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,628 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Goose
- Provides the main meat and the fat that renders out during roasting.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb the butter and juices in the stuffing, keeping it moist and soft.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that carries the sage and pepper flavour through the stuffing.
- Onion
- Adds sweetness and savoury aroma as it softens in the stuffing.
The step that matters
Turn the goose often. Goose skin has a thick layer of fat that must render out evenly. Frequent turning and pouring off the fat helps the skin brown evenly and keeps the meat from becoming greasy.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, butter, sage, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, butter, sage, 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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