Name: Chicken and Leek Pie
Ingredients: 6 cups chicken, chopped; 2 cups leeks, chopped; 1 cup shortcrust pastry; 1 cup ham, sliced; 1 cup onions, chopped; 3/4 cup chicken stock; 1/4 cup double cream; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon pepper; 1 pinch nutmeg, ground

Why it works: Leek and onion match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,326 recipes. Both carry ethyl butyrate, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

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.

Leek + oniontop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,326 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity).
Leek + nutmegtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together152 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together13,015 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Chicken + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,814 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken: Provides the main body of the filling and its savoury meat flavour.
Leeks: Add a mild, sweet onion-like flavour and soft texture as they cook.
Shortcrust pastry: Encloses the filling and forms a crisp, golden top and base.
Chicken stock: Adds moisture and a savoury base that keeps the filling from drying out.
Double cream: Adds richness and a smooth, moist texture when poured into the pie.
Ham: Adds salty, savoury depth to the filling.

The step that matters

Making a small hole before baking. The hole lets steam escape while the pie bakes, so the pastry does not puff up or split and the filling stays contained. It also gives a channel for the cream added later.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, leek, ham, onion, cream, pepper):

Garlicfits better
Celeryfits better
Thymefits better
Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, leek, ham, onion, cream, pepper. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Pork	100g cooked	242
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Pastry	not in our table	0

Chicken and Leek Pie