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Pigeon Stuffed with Dates

Pigeon stuffed with dates is a roasted bird filled with dates and spices, served with a sherry gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Pigeon Stuffed with Dates

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the pigeon

  1. Prepare the pigeon by cleaning it as usual.

  2. Split the dates and remove the stones, then stuff the pigeon with the dates.

  3. Sprinkle the outside lightly with salt and the mixed spices.

Roast and baste

  1. Roast the pigeon in the oven at 400°F (200°C) or hang over the fire.

  2. Baste the pigeon with butter.

  3. Dredge the pigeon with bread crumbs and parsley.

  4. Ensure it is richly browned.

Make the gravy and serve

  1. Boil sherry and water in the dripping pan, stirring until it boils.

  2. Pour the gravy over the pigeon when serving.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Nutmeg + parsleytop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Clove + parsleytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,768 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Pigeon
Is the main meat, and its tender flesh is the centre of the dish.
Dates
Add sweetness and a soft, moist texture to the stuffing.
Bread crumbs
Form a crisp, golden crust on the outside when roasted.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, helping the skin brown and stay moist.
Sherry
Adds acidity and depth of flavour to the pan gravy.

The step that matters

Ensure it is richly browned. Browning comes from the Maillard reaction between proteins and sugars at high dry heat, and it builds flavour. Pale birds taste flat, and the surface can dry out before the interior is done.

Swap the dates

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, bread, parsley, sherry, butter):

  1. Figfits better
  2. Lemonfits better
  3. Vanillafits better
  4. Datesthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, bread, parsley, sherry, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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