Why it works: Nutmeg and mace are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
Pigeon Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the dish
Lay a border of fine puff paste around a large dish.
Cover the bottom with a veal cutlet or tender rump steak, free from fat and bone, seasoned with salt, cayenne, and nutmeg or pounded mace.
Fill the pie
Prepare as many freshly-killed young pigeons as the dish will contain in one layer.
Put into each pigeon a slice or ball of butter, seasoned with a little cayenne and mace.
Lay the pigeons into the dish with the breasts downwards.
Between and over the pigeons, put the yolks of half a dozen or more hard-boiled eggs.
Stick plenty of butter on the pigeons, season the whole well with salt and spice.
Pour in some cold water or veal broth for the gravy.
(Optional) Fill the birds with small mushroom-buttons prepared as for partridges, and/or put their livers into them.
Cover and bake
Roll out the cover three-quarters of an inch thick.
Secure the cover well around the edge.
Ornament the cover highly.
Bake the pie for an hour or more in a well-heated oven.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Nutmeg | 1 tsp ground (2.2g) | 12 |
| Cayenne | 1 tsp (1.8g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Mace | not in our table | 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.
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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Nutmeg + macetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,557 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pigeons (in the method)
- Form the main meat, cooking gently inside the pastry as they are covered in butter.
- Butter (in the method)
- Adds richness and moisture, keeping the birds juicy as they bake.
- Hard-boiled eggs (in the method)
- Yolks add richness and a firm, crumbly texture to the filling.
- Veal cutlet or rump steak (in the method)
- Lines the base, adding savoury meat flavour and moisture to the filling.
- Puff paste (in the method)
- Forms a flaky, crisp crust that browns in the oven.
The step that matters
Bake the pie for an hour or more in a well-heated oven. The oven must be hot enough to set the pastry and brown it before the filling overcooks. Long baking then makes the meat tender and the gravy well developed.
“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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