Name: Roast Turkey
Ingredients: 1 turkey; desired dressing; twine; giblet gravy; cranberry sauce

Why it works: Turkey and cranberry work together. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 97 recipes. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓

Roast Turkey

Ingredients

Directions

Stew the turkey slowly for 30 minutes.
Fill the turkey with your desired dressing.
Secure the legs and run a skewer through the wings, fastening them to the body.
Skewer the neck to the body underneath and tie all securely with twine.
Place the turkey in a covered roasting pan to retain steam and flavor.
Pour the cooking liquid over the turkey and baste occasionally.
When the turkey is nicely browned, it will be done.

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.

Turkey + cranberrytop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together97 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Turkey + saucetop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together531 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Cranberry + saucetop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together480 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).