Name: Meat Pie
Ingredients: 16 oz. of meat (for males); 14 oz. of meat (for females); 4 oz. of bread; 1 oz. of cheese; 1 pint of beer

Why it works: Bread and cheese are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,130 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Meat Pie

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Prepare the meat pie filling with your choice of meat.
Roll out the pastry using a rolling pin.
Fill the pastry with the meat mixture and cover with another layer of pastry.
Bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes until golden brown.
Serve with bread, cheese, and beer.

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.

Bread + cheesetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,130 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Cheese + beertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together174 recipes

Shared aroma: 5-ethyl-3-hydroxy-4-methyl-2(5h)-furanone (spice).
Meat + breadtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,924 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Bread + beertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together146 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity).
Meat + cheesetop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together564 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).