Name: Roast Goose
Ingredients: 1 goose; Sage and onion stuffing; 1½ oz. flour; 1 onion, sliced; 1 apple, sliced; 3 sage leaves; 4 pounds gravy beef, cut small; 1 quart water; Pepper and salt to taste

Why it works: Sage and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,388 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Roast Goose

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the goose

Draw the goose and hang it for several days.
Truss the goose into shape, stuffing the breast with the sage and onion stuffing.

Roast and make the gravy

Roast the goose before a clear fire for 1½ to 2 hours, depending on its size.
To make the gravy, simmer the giblets in water with the beef, onion, apple, sage leaves, and a little pepper and salt for three hours.

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.

Sage + peppertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,388 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Onion + beeftop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,971 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Sage + appletop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together755 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Goose: Forms the main dish; its fat renders during roasting, keeping the meat moist and crisping the skin.
Gravy beef: Simmered for hours to build a rich, savoury flavour and body in the gravy.
Flour: Thickens the gravy by binding with the cooking liquid as it reduces.
Onion: Adds aromatic sweetness and depth to the gravy as it softens and cooks down.
Apple: Contributes mild sweetness and acidity that balances the rich meat and fat.

The step that matters

Roast the goose before a clear fire for 1½ to 2 hours, depending on its size.. Goose has a thick layer of fat under the skin. Cooking it steadily lets that fat drain away so the skin crisps rather than staying greasy, while the meat cooks through.