Why it works: Parsley and pepper 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 ↓
Mutton Pies
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 pastry
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Flour a pastry board lightly to prevent sticking.
Cut the pastry into two parts and roll out one part quickly and lightly.
Grease eight patty pans with dripping and line them with the rolled pastry.
Fill and seal
Fill each pan with equal parts of meat and potato, then sprinkle with onion, parsley, pepper, and salt.
Cover each filled pan with the remaining pastry and cut the edges neatly.
Pinch the edges together with a floured fork.
Bake
Bake in the hottest part of the oven for 5 minutes, then shift to a cooler shelf to finish baking.
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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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the pastry structure that holds the filling and keeps the pies shaped.
- Fat
- Dripping coats the flour and shortens the gluten, giving the pastry a tender, flaky texture.
- Meat
- Provides the savoury body of the filling and releases juices that moisten the potato.
- Potato
- Adds bulk and softness to the filling and absorbs meat juices.
- Onion
- Contributes savoury aroma and flavour to the filling.
- Sugar
- Adds a little sweetness and helps the pastry brown in the oven.
The step that matters
Bake in the hottest part of the oven first. Intense early heat sets the pastry quickly and browns the crust before the filling soaks it. Moving to a cooler shelf then cooks the filling through without scorching the top.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, meat, potato, parsley, pepper):
- Carrotfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Okrafits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, meat, potato, parsley, 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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