Name: To Roast a Turkey
Ingredients: 1 turkey, plucked and drawn; Forcemeat or sausage meat, seasoned with minced herbs, lemon rind, mace, and cayenne; Butter for basting; Good brown gravy for serving; Bread sauce for serving; Delicate fried sausages for garnish (optional); Butter for covering the breast

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 ↓

To Roast a Turkey

Ingredients

1 turkey, plucked and drawn
Forcemeat or sausage meat, seasoned with minced herbs, lemon rind, mace, and cayenne
Butter for basting
Good brown gravy for serving
Bread sauce for serving
Delicate fried sausages for garnish (optional)
Butter for covering the breast

Directions

Hang the turkey in a cool, airy place for up to two weeks if possible.
Wash and dry the turkey thoroughly with clean cloths.
Fill the breast with forcemeat or highly seasoned sausage meat.
Truss the turkey firmly and place it at a distance from the fire.
Baste constantly with butter while roasting.
Remove the buttered paper covering the breast 20 minutes before it's done.
Serve with good brown gravy and bread sauce, garnished with fried sausages if desired.

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).
Turkey + breadtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together822 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Turkey + meattop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together540 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Turkey + buttertop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,592 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Meat + breadtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,924 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).