Why it works: Apple and cider are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,238 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓
Apple Pork Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the dough
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Make a dough with fresh butter and sifted flour.
Line the bottom and sides of a deep dish with the dough.
Layer the filling
Place quartered apples in the dish.
Sprinkle brown sugar over the apples to taste.
Thinly peel the lemon rind. Squeeze lemon juice and pour it over the apples.
Layer thin pork steaks over the apples, leaving a little fat on the edges.
Remove the bone from the pork steaks.
Pour a teacupful of cider over the pork and apples.
Heap the mixture in the center.
Cover and bake
Cover with a lid of dough.
Crimp the edges of the dough.
Cut a slit in the center to allow steam to escape.
Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown.
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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Apple + cidertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,238 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Apple + porktop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,581 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Butter + porktop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,933 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Apple + lemontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,551 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Baking apples
- Soften during baking and provide tart, sweet fruit flavour and moisture to the filling.
- Fresh butter
- Adds richness and flakiness to the dough and helps it brown.
- Sifted flour
- Forms the structure of the dough that holds the pie together.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and caramel notes and helps the apples and juices darken.
- Pork steaks
- Provide the savoury meat that cooks within the juices and fat of the pie.
- Cider
- Adds moisture and apple flavour so the filling cooks in liquid.
The step that matters
Cutting a steam slit in the lid. Thin pork and apples release steam and juices as they cook. Without a vent in the crust, pressure can build and the lid may split or become soggy underneath as the filling bubbles.
Swap the lemon
The recipe marks lemon as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (apple, butter, flour, sugar, pork, cider):
- Pearfits better
- Figfits better
- Plumfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against apple, butter, flour, sugar, pork, cider. 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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