Why it works: Flour and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
English Pork or Raised Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the crust
Melt the lard in a little water.
Mix the hot melted lard with flour and a little salt to form a smooth paste.
Divide the paste into balls and shape each into a hollow pie crust with walls 2-4 inches high.
Fill and bake
Fill each pie with the seasoned pork pieces.
Fit a lid on top, glaze with beaten egg, and bake until light brown in a 350°F (175°C) oven.
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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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + porktop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,187 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pork + eggtop 30% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,387 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lard
- Melted and mixed into the flour, it gives the hot-water crust its rich, flaky-tender texture.
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the pastry once mixed with the melted lard into a paste.
- Pork (fat and lean)
- Forms the filling; the fat keeps the lean meat moist as it cooks.
- Egg
- Brushed on as a glaze, it promotes even browning and a glossy finish on the crust.
The step that matters
Shaping the hot crust paste. Lard must be melted and the paste worked while still hot so it stays pliable; once it cools and firms, the walls crack and the crust is hard to shape into a hollow case.
“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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