Name: Roasted Larks, Wheat Ears, and Other Small Birds
Ingredients: small birds (larks, wheat ears, etc.); fat bacon; butter; fine bread crumbs

Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Roasted Larks, Wheat Ears, and Other Small Birds

Ingredients

small birds (larks, wheat ears, etc.)
fat bacon
butter
fine bread crumbs

Directions

Skewer the birds on a spit, placing a thin slice of fat bacon between each.
Tie the spit to a larger spit and roast over a moderate fire.
Baste the birds with butter and sprinkle fine bread crumbs over them until nearly done.
Allow the birds to brown nicely, then remove them from the spit.
Serve with fried bread crumbs around the birds and melted butter in a small sauce boat.
To fry bread crumbs, rub them through a fine sieve into a clean frying pan with a bit of fresh butter.
Stir over the fire until they are light brown, then drain on a sieve and heap around the dish.

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 + breadtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,232 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Wheat + breadtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together209 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Wheat + buttertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,002 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).