Why it works: Clove and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,866 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Salmi of Duck
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the stock
Cut cold duck into neat pieces.
Boil duck bones with 1-2 cloves for 3-4 hours to make stock.
Make the gravy
Rub together butter and flour, then brown them in a pan.
Strain the stock and add it to the butter and flour mixture.
Stir well and let it boil for 3 minutes.
Finish and serve
Add duck pieces, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.
Stir in sherry and olives, then cook for another 10 minutes.
Serve the salmi with 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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Clove + olivetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,866 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Clove + sherrytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,237 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Butter + sherrytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,505 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Clove + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,671 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour 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
- Cold duck
- Supplies the meat that becomes tender and flavourful as it simmers in the gravy.
- Bones from duck
- Give the stock its body and rich savoury flavour during long boiling.
- Butter
- Adds richness and, cooked with flour, forms the base that thickens the gravy.
- Flour
- Combines with butter to thicken the stock into a smooth gravy.
- Sherry
- Adds acidity and aromatic depth to the gravy.
- Stoned olives
- Add a salty, briny note that contrasts with the rich gravy.
The step that matters
Browning the butter and flour. Cooking the roux until lightly browned builds nutty flavour and colour, and stirring it smooth before adding stock prevents lumps in the gravy.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, sherry, olive):
- Capersfits better
- Thymefits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, sherry, olive. 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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