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Meat Pie

A pie made with cold cooked meat, mashed potatoes, and a crumb topping.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,305 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Meat 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

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. Cut the cold cooked meat into thin slices or half‑inch cubes, removing all gristle and fat except the crisped outside fat.

Assemble and bake

  1. Place the meat in a baking dish and cover it with meat gravy. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

  2. Spread a layer of mashed potatoes over the meat.

  3. Brush the top with the beaten egg and sprinkle with cracker crumbs.

  4. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes until 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. Pepper + potatotop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

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

  2. Meat + potatotop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together786 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  3. Meat + peppertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,777 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Meat + eggtop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,432 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Potato + eggtop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,978 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Cold cooked meat
Forms the filling and provides the main savory flavor of the pie.
Meat gravy
Adds moisture so the meat stays juicy under the potato topping.
Mashed potatoes
Forms a soft topping that insulates the filling and browns in the oven.
Beaten egg
Coats the top, helping the crumbs adhere and encouraging browning and a glossy finish.
Cracker crumbs
Adds a crisp, toasted layer on top when baked.

The step that matters

Brushing the top with egg before baking. The beaten egg sets as it heats and promotes browning, so an uneven or missing coat leaves a pale, patchy crust. Spreading the potatoes evenly also keeps the filling from drying out or bubbling unevenly.

Swap the potato

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

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Spinachfits about as well
  4. Potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, pepper, egg. 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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