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Mock Duck

A roast beef roll coated in breadcrumbs and herbs, baked in dripping and boiling water, served with brown gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and summer savory match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 241 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Mock Duck

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Trim bone and excess fat from the meat.

  2. Wipe the meat with a damp cloth and spread it on a board.

  3. Mix bread crumbs, parsley, savory or thyme, salt, pepper, onion, and melted butter.

  4. Spread the mixture over the meat, roll it up, and tie it in shape.

Roast and serve

  1. Place the meat in a roasting pan.

  2. Pour 2 tablespoons of melted dripping into 1 cup of boiling water around the meat.

  3. Cover tightly.

  4. Cook in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 1 to 2 hours; uncover for the last half hour.

  5. Serve with brown gravy.

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.

  1. Parsley + summer savorytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together241 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Summer savory + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together671 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Summer savory + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together299 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Round steak
Forms the main body of the dish and becomes tender through slow, covered cooking in liquid.
Bread crumbs
Absorb the butter and juices of the filling, keeping the stuffing moist and holding it inside the roll.
Melted butter
Adds fat and richness to the stuffing, carrying flavor and helping keep it moist.
Dripping
Adds fat and savory flavor to the cooking liquid that surrounds the meat.

The step that matters

Cover tightly. Sealing the pan traps steam so the tough muscle fibers of the steak break down gently in moist heat. Uncovering too early lets moisture escape and can leave the meat dry and chewy.

Swap the onion

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

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Turnipfits better
  4. Onionthe original

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

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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