Why it works: Sage 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 237 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Roast Turkey
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Make a dressing by mixing crackers, pepper, salt, sage, summer savory, parsley, eggs, butter, and enough cold water to moisten.
Stuff the turkey, starting with the breast and then the body.
Cross and tie the legs tightly, skewer the wings to the body, and secure the neck with a skewer.
Rub the turkey with salt and place it on a spit.
Roast and baste
Baste often with drippings and flour, and occasionally with butter.
About 15 minutes before serving, baste with butter and sprinkle with flour for a frothy appearance.
Roast for 1 hour and 45 minutes for an 8-pound turkey in a tin kitchen, or 1 hour and 30 minutes plus 15 minutes for each additional pound in the oven.
Serve
Serve with giblet gravy and cranberry sauce.
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.
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Sage + summer savorytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together237 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Summer savory + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together241 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Sage + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,445 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Pepper + sagetop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,388 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture to the dressing and bastes the skin for flavor and browning.
- Eggs
- Bind the dressing so it holds together when stuffed and roasted.
- Pounded crackers
- Provide the bulk of the dressing and absorb the butter and moisture.
- Flour (in the method)
- Combined with drippings and butter during basting to help create browning and a frothy appearance.
The step that matters
Stuffing the turkey. Dressing packed into the cavity can slow heat reaching the center, so the bird may be undercooked near the stuffing while the outside overcooks. Keep the stuffing moist but not packed too tightly, and check the thickest parts reach a safe temperature.
Swap the summer savory
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, sage, parsley, egg, butter):
- Thymefits better
- Marjoramfits about as well
- Summer savorythe original
- Tarragonfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, sage, parsley, egg, 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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