Why it works: Leek and cream work together. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 158 recipes. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓
Pilchard and Leek Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Trim the coarse leaves from the leeks and cut the white part into equal lengths.
Scald the leeks in salted water.
Soak the salted pilchards in cold water the previous day.
Assemble and bake
Line a pie dish with plain pastry and lay the leeks in it.
Place the soaked pilchards between the layers of leeks.
Cover the pie with pastry and bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 40 minutes.
Finish
When done, lift the cover, drain off the gravy, and pour in the boiling cream.
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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Leek + creamtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together158 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Leeks
- Form the bulk of the filling and turn soft and mellow when scalded and baked.
- Salted pilchards
- Provide a salty, savoury fish flavour that seasons the whole pie.
- Plain pastry
- Encloses the filling and holds its shape while the pie bakes.
- Boiling cream
- Adds richness and moisture to the filling once the gravy is drained off.
The step that matters
Soaking the salted pilchards the previous day. Salt draws out of the fish during soaking, so the pilchards do not make the pie overly salty. Skipping or shortening the soak leaves the filling harsh and over-seasoned.
“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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