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Veal Pot Pie

A savory pie filled with cooked veal, vegetables, and broth, topped with a double crust.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Celery and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Veal Pot 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.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Assemble the filling

  1. In a mixing bowl, combine the cooked veal and vegetables.

  2. Add broth, salt, and pepper; mix well.

  3. Pour the mixture into a pie crust.

Bake

  1. Cover with another pie crust, sealing the edges.

  2. Cut slits in the top crust for steam to escape.

  3. Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden brown.

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.

  1. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Veal + celerytop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,336 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Veal + peppertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,049 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Veal
Provides the main protein and savory meaty flavor of the filling.
Broth
Adds moisture and savory flavor so the filling stays juicy while baking.
Vegetables
Add bulk, texture and mild sweetness to the filling.
Pie crust
Encloses the filling and forms the golden, crisp top and base as it browns.

The step that matters

Cut slits in the top crust. Slits let steam escape while the filling heats. Without them, pressure builds under the crust, which can crack or lift and make the filling soggy.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, pepper):

  1. Sagefits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Marjoramfits about as well
  4. Celerythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, 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.

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