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 ↓
Vermicelli 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).
Rub the inside of a deep earthen dish with 2 ounces of butter.
Spread 2 ounces of vermicelli over the buttered dish.
Assemble the pie
Make a puff pastry, roll it thick, and lay it over the dish.
Season the pigeons with pepper and salt, and place a lump of butter inside each.
Lay the pigeons breast down in the dish and cover with the pastry lid.
Bake and serve
Bake the pie in the preheated oven until done.
Turn the pie onto the 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 through under the pastry as the pie bakes.
- Puff pastry (in the method)
- Forms a thick, flaky lid that seals in moisture and browns in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture to the dish and the pigeons as they cook.
- Vermicelli
- Forms a thin pasta layer beneath the birds that soaks up juices from the pie.
The step that matters
Bake the pie in the preheated oven until done. The pastry lid is thick and the birds sit underneath it, so the pie needs to bake long enough for the meat to cook through. Starting from a fully preheated oven helps the pastry rise and brown evenly.
“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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