Why it works: Chicken and pork match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,417 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓
Chicken 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
Prepare the chicken and pork or spare rib.
If the chicken is young, stew it for 30 minutes in water, covered.
Season with pepper and coarse sea salt.
Thicken the gravy with flour mixed with milk or water.
Assemble
Line a deep pan with a plain pie crust, rolled moderately thin.
Place a cup upside down in the dish before adding the chicken to prevent gravy from escaping.
Place the poorer parts of the chicken at the bottom and the better parts on top.
Pour the gravy over the chicken.
Add bits of butter.
Make the upper crust rich and ½ inch thick with openings cut through.
Add the upper crust.
Press firmly to seal.
Bake and serve
Bake for 1 hour in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C).
Remove the cup before serving.
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.
-
Chicken + porktop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,417 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Pork + milktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,386 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
-
Chicken + milktop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,389 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).
Flour and butter 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
- Chicken
- Provides the main meat, and its gelatin and juices enrich the gravy as it cooks.
- Flour
- Thickens the gravy so it clings to the chicken instead of running off.
- Butter
- Adds richness and flavor, and melts into the filling to moisten it.
- Pie crust
- Encloses the filling and browns in the oven, forming the structure of the pie.
The step that matters
Thicken the gravy with flour mixed with milk or water. Flour must be mixed smoothly into a liquid before it goes into the gravy, otherwise it forms lumps and thickens unevenly. Starch needs liquid and heat to swell and set the sauce.
“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 chicken pie recipes
You might also like
Chicken Broth257 recipes
Chicken Soup156 recipes
Pork Cake107 recipes
Creamed Chicken89 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.