Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Roast Turkey
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the turkey
Wash the turkey inside and out, ensuring all pin-feathers are removed.
Singe off any fine feathers using a lit piece of paper.
In a bowl, combine broken light bread, salt, pepper, butter, and lard. Pour in enough warm water to form a dough.
Scald the turkey in a pot, then place it on a tray and fill it with the dressing.
Sew the opening closed with a kitchen needle to keep the dressing inside.
Roast and baste
Grease the turkey with lard and place it in front of the fire to cook slowly.
Baste the turkey with its drippings and turn it often.
Once it starts to brown, cook a little faster and continue turning.
Make the gravy and serve
After cooking, pour the drippings into a saucepan.
Stir in ½ pint of water and browned flour, mixing well.
Add salt and pepper, then serve hot in a sauce tureen with the turkey.
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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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Turkey + breadtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together822 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Turkey + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,592 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Turkey + peppertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,636 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Turkey
- Forms the main body of the dish and is cooked slowly until browned and tender.
- Light bread
- Soaks up liquid and fat in the dressing, giving it a moist, soft structure.
- Butter
- Adds fat that enriches the dressing and helps the skin brown.
- Lard
- Adds fat for greasing and basting, promoting even browning and a crisp skin.
- Browned flour
- Thickens the drippings into gravy and adds a toasted, nutty flavor.
The step that matters
Once it starts to brown, cook a little faster and continue turning.. Turning keeps heat even so the bird cooks through without scorching on one side. Raising the heat once browning begins sets the surface color, but too much heat can dry the meat before the dressing inside is hot.
“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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