Name: To Boil a Turkey
Ingredients: 1 large turkey; forcemeat (stuffing); a few chopped oysters; coarse sea salt; butter; lemon juice

Why it works: Oyster and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,184 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓

To Boil a Turkey

Ingredients

Directions

Clean and truss the turkey with legs drawn under the skin.
Stuff the turkey with forcemeat and chopped oysters.
Wrap the turkey in a well-floured cloth and boil in water.
Add salt, butter, and lemon juice to the boiling water.
Boil for more than two hours, then serve with oyster, white, or celery sauce.

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.

Oyster + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,184 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Turkey + buttertop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,592 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Turkey + oystertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together473 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,227 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Turkey + lemontop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together464 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).