Why it works: Chicken and pork match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,417 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓
Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the chicken
Boil the chicken pieces in water for about 20 minutes until partially cooked.
Remove the chicken pieces from the water.
Fry the salt pork slices in a pan until browned.
Place the fried pork slices at the bottom of the pan.
Add the chicken pieces on top of the pork.
Pour in 3 pints of water.
Add 2 ounces of butter.
Add 1 teaspoon of pepper.
Cover the mixture with a light pie crust made like biscuit dough.
Cook in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 1 hour.
Stew the chicken until tender, seasoning as desired.
Assemble and bake
Line a pan with pie crust.
Add 1 quart of oysters to the pan.
Add the stewed chicken to the pan.
Thicken the chicken broth with flour.
Pour the thickened broth over the chicken and oysters.
Cover the mixture with pie crust.
Decorate the crust with pastry.
Bake for about 20 minutes until the crust is golden brown.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Chicken + porktop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,417 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Flour + biscuittop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together889 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pepper + biscuittop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together841 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + oystertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,184 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Chicken
- Provides the main meat, which becomes tender through slow stewing in the broth.
- Salt pork
- Adds savory fat and flavor as it browns in the pan before the chicken is added.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat to the broth, giving it a smoother mouthfeel.
- Flour
- Thickens the chicken broth so it becomes a sauce that holds the filling together.
- Oysters
- Add a briny, savory flavor to the filling.
- Pie crust
- Forms a top and lining that bakes to a golden, browned finish.
The step that matters
Thicken the chicken broth with flour. Flour must be fully mixed into the hot broth to avoid lumps; stirring as it heats lets starch swell and gelatinize, so the sauce thickens evenly instead of staying thin or clumping.
“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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