Why it works: Walnut and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 852 recipes. Both carry alpha-pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓
Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the chicken
Cut the chicken up and boil until tender, leaving the kettle half full of broth when done.
Make the dough
Make a stiff dough of 1 pound flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 egg and a lump of lard or butter.
Assemble and cook
Cut dough in strips, put a layer in the kettle, a layer of chicken on top, and repeat until the kettle is nearly full.
Season to suit the taste, adding a lump of butter the size of a walnut and celery seed, if desired.
Cover and boil until the dumpling is done.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Walnut | 1 walnut half (4g) | 26 |
| Celery Seed | 1 stalk (40g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Walnut + celerytop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together852 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + walnuttop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,873 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Butter + walnuttop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,832 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Flour + celerytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,905 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter 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
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the dough and sets into the tender dumplings.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during cooking so the dumplings rise and turn light.
- Egg
- Binds the dough and adds richness and structure to the dumplings.
- Lard or butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and flavour in the dough.
The step that matters
Cover and boil until the dumpling is done. Boiling the dough gently in broth cooks it through. Lifting the lid lets the temperature drop and steam escape, so the dumplings may turn heavy or undercooked inside.
Swap the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, egg, butter, walnut):
- Nutmegfits better
- Capersfits better
- Cinnamonfits better
- Celerythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, egg, butter, walnut. 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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