Name: Goose, Roast
Ingredients: 1 goose (drawn and trussed); dripping for basting; sage and onion stuffing; watercress or chestnuts for garnish

Why it works: Sage and watercress share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 25 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Goose, Roast

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

1 goose (drawn and trussed)
dripping for basting
sage and onion stuffing
watercress or chestnuts for garnish

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Stuff the goose and securely fasten both ends.
Place the goose in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) and cook quickly for about 20 minutes.
Lower the heat to 350°F (175°C) and continue cooking, basting often with the dripping.
About half an hour before the goose is done, dredge the breast with a little flour and baste again.
Once cooked, remove all strings and skewers, place the goose on a hot dish, and garnish with watercress or chestnuts.
Serve with apple sauce or gooseberry sauce, and a thick gravy in a separate tureen.

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.

Sage + watercresstop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together25 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Onion + watercresstop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together533 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Sage + oniontop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,628 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).