Name: Another Wat to Stew Goose Giblets
Ingredients: 1 pint gravy or the liquor from parboiled giblets; 2 tablespoons flour; 2 tablespoons butter; 1 onion, chopped; ¼ teaspoon black pepper; ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt (formerly 'bay salt'); 1 teaspoon vinegar; 1 tablespoon white wine

Why it works: Butter and white wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,083 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Another Wat to Stew Goose Giblets

Ingredients

1 pint gravy or the liquor from parboiled giblets
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt (formerly 'bay salt')
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 tablespoon white wine

Directions

Prepare

Parboil the giblets until tender.

Make the sauce

In a pot, thicken the gravy or parboiling liquid with flour and butter; boil and skim.
Add the giblets, onion, pepper, and salt; let them stew until very tender.
Before serving, stir in vinegar and white wine.

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.

Butter + white winetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,083 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Vinegar + white winetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,776 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Onion + white winetop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,535 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Flour: Thickens the gravy into a smooth, body-rich sauce as it cooks.
Butter: Adds richness and fat, helping the flour thicken smoothly and giving flavour.
Onion: Adds aromatic sweetness and savoury depth as it softens during stewing.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the rich, fatty gravy.
White wine: Adds acidity and aroma that lift the flavour of the sauce.

The step that matters

Thicken the gravy with flour and butter, then boil and skim. Flour must be cooked into the fat and liquid while boiling to remove raw starch taste and to thicken fully. Skimming removes fat and impurities that rise to the surface, keeping the sauce clean and smooth.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, pepper, vinegar, white wine):

Shallotfits better
Capsicumfits better
Mustardfits about as well
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, pepper, vinegar, white 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.

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Another Wat to Stew Goose Giblets