Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Chicken Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the chicken
Dress and singe the chicken.
Boil the chicken in enough water to cover until tender.
Save the broth and giblets.
Cut the chicken into small pieces.
Slice the pork thinly.
Fry the sliced pork with the chicken until browned.
Make the gravy
Remove from heat.
Stir in the flour in the same pan until brown and thick.
Add the chicken broth, salt, and pepper.
Pour the gravy over the chicken.
Assemble and bake
Line a deep dish with puff pastry.
Layer in chicken, pork, and sliced potatoes.
Pour in enough gravy to fill the dish.
Sprinkle with parsley.
Cover with a top crust.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 45 minutes.
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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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Chicken + porktop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,417 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
-
Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Pork + potatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,668 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Chicken + potatotop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,756 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-decenal (green, must).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chicken
- Provides the main meat, which cooks tender in the boiling water and forms the filling.
- Fat pork
- Adds rich fat and savory flavor as it browns with the chicken.
- Flour
- Thickens the broth into a smooth gravy that holds the filling together.
- Chicken broth
- Supplies moisture and savory flavor that becomes the gravy.
- Sliced potatoes
- Adds starch and bulk, softening as the pie bakes in the gravy.
- Puff pastry
- Forms a flaky, crisp lining and top crust that browns in the oven.
The step that matters
Thickening the gravy with flour. Flour must be cooked in the fat until brown and thick before the broth is added. Stirring it smooth prevents lumps, and cooking it out removes the raw starch taste and lets the gravy set properly.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, pork, flour, pepper, potato):
- Thymefits better
- Garlicfits better
- Marjoramfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, pork, flour, pepper, potato. 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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