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Squash-pie

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 ↓

Squash-pie

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Peel the Hubbard squash and cut it into 2-inch pieces. Remove the seeds without losing any flesh.

  2. Steam the squash in a covered colander over boiling water, or cook it in a porcelain-lined saucepan over low heat until tender, stirring occasionally.

  3. Alternatively, boil the squash in enough water to cover it until tender.

  4. Drain the squash and mash it through a sieve or fine colander until smooth.

  5. In a bowl, mix the mashed squash with milk, beaten eggs, cinnamon, mace, ginger, salt, and sugar.

  6. Fill two large pie crusts with the mixture. Do not cover the pies with pastry.

  7. Garnish with grated nutmeg or sprinkle with grated lemon rind.

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 + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,380 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  4. Ginger + lemontop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,154 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Ginger + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,324 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, egg, cinnamon, ginger, sugar, nutmeg, lemon):

  1. Cardamomfits better
  2. Allspicefits better
  3. Clovefits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, cinnamon, ginger, sugar, nutmeg, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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