Why it works: Butter and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 85,593 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Vehmicelli 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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Grease a deep earthen dish with 2 ounces of butter.
Spread 2 ounces of vermicelli over the buttered dish.
Assemble the pie
Make a thick pastry dough and roll it out.
Lay the rolled pastry over the dish.
Season the pigeons with pepper and coarse sea salt, and place a lump of butter inside each.
Arrange the pigeons in the dish with their breasts facing down.
Cover the pigeons with the pastry lid.
Bake and serve
Bake the pie in the preheated oven until done.
Carefully turn the pie onto a serving dish.
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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Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pigeons
- Provide the main meat, which cooks inside the pastry and becomes tender and juicy.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, enriching the dish and helping the pigeons stay tender as they cook.
- Vermicelli
- Forms a layer beneath the birds that adds texture to the base of the pie.
The step that matters
Carefully turn the pie onto a serving dish. The pie is assembled in a deep dish with a pastry lid, so turning it out can break the crust or spill juices. Letting it rest briefly first helps the contents set and makes the pie easier to lift intact.
“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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