Why it works: Pepper and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 33% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 50,580 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Rump- Steak 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 filling
Cut the rump-steak into pieces about 3 inches long and 2 inches wide, ensuring each piece has a small amount of fat.
Layer the meat in a pie dish, sprinkling salt, black pepper, and cayenne between each layer.
Fill the dish with meat to support the crust and create a raised appearance.
Pour in enough water to fill the dish halfway.
Assemble and bake
Border the dish with pie crust, brush with water, and cover with another layer of crust.
Press down the edges with your thumb and trim excess crust.
Decorate the pie with shapes cut from the crust, brush with beaten egg yolk, and make a hole in the top.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for about 1 hour.
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.
-
Pepper + eggtop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together50,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Pepper and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 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
- Rump-steak
- Provides the main meat, which becomes tender and savoury as it cooks slowly under the crust.
- Pie crust
- Encloses the filling and browns in the oven, forming the structure of the pie.
- Egg yolk
- Brushed on the top, it promotes a glossy, golden browning of the crust.
The step that matters
Fill the dish with meat. Packing the dish firmly supports the crust so it stays raised instead of sinking as the meat cooks and shrinks. Fat in each piece keeps the meat moist during the long bake.
“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.
More steak pie recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.