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 ↓
Oie Roti Farcie
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
Pick, draw, and singe the goose.
Wipe the inside with a damp cloth.
Make the stuffing
Peel and blanch the onions with the sage leaves, then strain and chop finely.
Chop the suet and mix it with the onions and sage.
Add the breadcrumbs and beaten egg, season, and mix well.
Stuff the mixture into the goose and truss it.
Roast and serve
Roast in the oven at 350°F (175°C) for 1 to 2 hours, basting occasionally.
Sprinkle with a little salt just before removing from the oven.
Untruss and place on a hot dish.
Strain off the fat from the dripping pan, add stock or gravy, season, boil for a few minutes, pour over the goose, and serve.
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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Sage + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,388 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + sagetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,628 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Sage + eggtop 32% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,100 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Egg + peppertop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together50,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 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
- Goose
- Forms the main body of the dish and carries the stuffing and fat during roasting.
- Breadcrumbs
- Absorb moisture and bind the stuffing so it holds together when cooked.
- Egg
- Binds the breadcrumb and onion mixture so it sets firmly in the cavity.
- Suet
- Adds fat that keeps the stuffing moist and rich as it cooks.
- Onions
- Add sweetness and moisture to the stuffing once blanched and chopped.
- Dripping
- Adds fat for flavour and helps the goose brown in the pan.
The step that matters
Roast at the stated temperature, basting occasionally. Goose is fatty and the skin needs steady heat so fat renders out and the meat cooks through without drying. Regular basting helps the skin crisp and keeps the flesh moist.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sage, egg, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Sweet potatofits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sage, egg, 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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