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Duck Stewed with Cabbage

A stew of duck and cabbage simmered in seasoned gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Marjoram and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Duck Stewed with Cabbage

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cabbage

  1. Boil the cabbage and let it drain overnight.

Make the stew

  1. Half roast the duck and place it in gravy seasoned with marjoram, thyme, onion, pepper, and salt.

  2. Stew the duck until fully cooked.

  3. Strain and thicken the gravy.

  4. Cut and fry the cabbage in butter, then add it to the gravy.

  5. Heat everything together before serving.

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. Marjoram + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Marjoram + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,609 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

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

  4. Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,081 recipes

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

  5. Thyme + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,171 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Duck
Provides the main protein and rich fat that flavours the gravy as it stews.
Cabbage
Adds bulk and a mild, slightly sweet vegetable body to the stew.
Gravy
Forms the liquid base that carries the seasonings and binds the stew together.
Butter
Fries the cabbage, adding richness and browning for flavour.
Onion
Contributes aromatic sweetness that deepens the gravy as it cooks.

The step that matters

Half roast the duck. Only partly roasting the duck leaves it to finish in the gravy, so it must be stewed until fully cooked. Stopping early leaves the meat underdone, while overcooking toughens the proteins and dries the flesh.

Swap the cabbage

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

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Leekfits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against marjoram, thyme, onion, pepper, butter. 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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