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Wild Ducks

Roasted wild ducks served with a seasoned broth and gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and winter savory match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 780 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Wild Ducks

Ingredients

Directions

Roast the ducks

  1. Roast the wild ducks over a brisk fire for 12 to 20 minutes, basting constantly.

  2. Score the breast of the duck and place a piece of butter on it.

  3. Cut a lemon in half. On one lemon half, add 1 teaspoon of salt. On the other lemon half, add 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.

  4. Squeeze the lemon halves over the duck.

Make the sauce

  1. Shred thyme, winter savory, and sage.

  2. Add the shredded herbs to strong broth with a little pepper, salt, and 2 tablespoons of wine.

  3. Stew for 30 minutes.

  4. Add the gravy from the ducks, avoiding the fat.

Finish the stew

  1. Remove the ducks, cut them up, and place them in a stewpan with the sauce.

  2. Let them stew until done.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Thyme + winter savorytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together780 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Thyme + sagetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,485 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Winter savory + sagetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together221 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Pepper + sagetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,388 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Wild ducks
Provide the main meat, which is roasted first and then stewed until tender.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture to the breast as it melts over the roasting duck.
Strong broth
Forms the liquid base of the sauce, carrying flavour and body.
Wine
Adds acidity and aroma to the sauce.

The step that matters

Roast over a brisk fire, basting constantly. Fast, hot roasting with frequent basting keeps the wild duck's lean meat moist and browned. Overcooking dries it out, so timing within the 12 to 20 minute window matters.

Swap the winter savory

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper, thyme, sage, wine):

  1. Marjoramfits better
  2. Rosemaryfits better
  3. Parsleyfits about as well
  4. Winter savorythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper, thyme, sage, wine. 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.

More wild duck recipes

Roasted 111Stew 21Sauce 12Roast 11Roast 9Hash 6 See all 13 →

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