Why it works: Pepper and sage match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,388 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Crust Foe Raised Pies
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the paste
Heat the lard and water in a saucepan until boiling.
Gradually pour the hot mixture into the flour on a clean surface.
Mix the mixture with a spoon, then knead with your hands until a stiff paste forms.
Shape and fill
Shape the paste into a sugar-loaf shape.
Flatten the sides with your hands.
Hollow the inside by pressing with your fingers, ensuring even thickness.
Layer the meat inside.
Sprinkle the meat with pepper, salt, and sage.
Cover the meat with the remaining paste.
Trim the edges.
Pinch and crimp the edges.
Make a hole in the center.
Decorate with ornamental paste if desired.
Bake and finish
Bake in a moderate oven (350°F/175°C) for 1 to 1¼ hours, depending on size.
Once the pie is done and nearly cold, pour in gravy made from stewed bones, salt, and onion.
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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Pepper + sagetop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,388 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Sage + oniontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,628 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Flour + sagetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,115 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Meat + oniontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,364 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lard
- Makes the paste short and tender, and keeps the crust rich and flaky when baked.
- Flour
- Forms the paste's structure, which sets firm enough to hold the shape of the pie.
- Meat
- Forms the savory filling that cooks through inside the crust.
- Sage
- Adds aromatic herbal flavor to the meat filling.
The step that matters
Hollow the inside with even thickness. If the walls are uneven, thin areas can overbake or split while thick areas stay underdone. Even walls cook uniformly and keep the pie stable during baking.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, meat, pepper, sage):
- Shallotfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Parsnipfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, meat, pepper, sage. 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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