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Christmas Butter

Like a lot of what I'm doing this year, this butter is a job for Christmas Eve. It won't take long and will guarantee you happiness the day after. A really beautiful turkey like Mr Kelly's doesn't need anything more than olive oil and salt and pepper, they're that good. While the purist in me says leave it alone, the chef in me is curious and wants to experiment. I think the bird, and the occasion, deserve a bit of extra love so if you can add a bit of an edge with something that complements and enhances its natural flavours, why not try it? An experiment of mine I'm happy to say really worked out was this flavoured butter. It looks beautiful, gives a delicate sweetness and holds the skin away from the meat so it gets extra crispy as it cooks. Another bonus is that the butter's journey out of the bird will give you a self-basting bird. Brilliant.

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Christmas Butter

Why it works: Rosemary and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,324 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Christmas Butter

Serves 10

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

174Calories
1 gProtein
12 gFat
18 gCarbs

Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Rosemary1 tsp dried (1.2g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Clementinenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By jamieoliver. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

  1. Rosemary + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,324 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Butter + rosemarytop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,096 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl decanoate (grape, waxy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the rosemary

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pepper):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Sagefits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Rosemarythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.