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Partridges, Pie of

A savory pie of partridges stuffed with liver mixture, wrapped in bacon, baked in pastry.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Partridges, Pie of

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

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 the birds

  1. Pluck, draw, and singe the partridges, then halve them lengthwise.

  2. Mince the livers and mix with parsley, salt, pepper, bread crumbs, and powdered mace.

  3. Stuff the mixture into the birds and add a piece of butter in each half.

Assemble the pie

  1. Butter a shallow pie dish and line the edges with pastry.

  2. Place a layer of lean veal at the bottom and season with salt, pepper, and mace.

  3. Wrap the birds in bacon and pack them breast down on the veal.

  4. Pour the veal stock over the birds.

  5. Cover with pastry.

  6. Decorate.

  7. Brush with beaten egg.

Bake

  1. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 1.5 hours.

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. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  2. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Parsley + walnuttop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together865 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Pepper + walnuttop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,039 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Partridges
Provide the main meat, which cooks through and becomes tender under the pastry.
Bread crumbs
Absorb the liver juices and bind the stuffing so it holds together.
Fat bacon
Bastes the birds with its fat and keeps the lean meat moist during baking.
Veal stock
Adds moisture and savoury depth, and forms a gravy as the pie bakes.
Egg
Gives the pastry a glossy, golden browned surface.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture to the stuffed birds as they roast.

The step that matters

Covering the birds and sealing the pie. The pastry must enclose the birds fully so steam and juices stay inside, keeping the meat moist. Gaps let liquid escape and the lean partridge can dry out during the long bake.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (parsley, pepper, bread, walnut, butter, veal, egg):

  1. Sagefits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against parsley, pepper, bread, walnut, butter, veal, egg. 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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