Why it works: Olive and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,779 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Roasted Ducks
Ingredients
Directions
Cut off the pinions at the first joint from the bodies.
Truss the feet behind the backs.
Spit the birds firmly and roast them at a brisk fire.
Baste them constantly until the breasts are well plumped.
When the steam draws towards the fire, dish them up quickly.
Serve with good brown gravy poured around them and some in a tureen.
Optionally, serve with olive sauce or gravy made from necks, gizzards, and livers stewed down with seasoning.
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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Olive + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together29,779 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Sauce + oniontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,474 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Olive + saucetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,568 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sauce and onion barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,474 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
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, sauce):
- Tomatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Mustardfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against olive, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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