Name: Deviled Turkey
Ingredients: drumsticks and second joints of cooked turkey; 1 tablespoon mustard; 1 tablespoon vinegar; salt; pepper; butter

Why it works: Mustard and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Deviled Turkey

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Score the turkey pieces in a criss-cross fashion.
Mix mustard and vinegar, then rub it over the turkey.
Season well with salt and pepper.

Cook and serve

Broil over hot coals until heated through.
Serve on a hot dish with a small lump of butter on each piece.

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.

Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,067 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,430 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Turkey + buttertop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,592 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together27,814 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Turkey + peppertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,636 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

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

What each ingredient does

Drumsticks and second joints of cooked turkey: Provides the main meat, which is already cooked and only needs heating through.
Mustard: Adds sharp, pungent flavor that cuts the richness of the turkey.
Vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the mustard.
Butter: Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel as it melts over the hot meat.