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Aromatic Spices for Seasoning Meat Pies, Etc

Aromatic spices for seasoning meat pies.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Marjoram and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Aromatic Spices for Seasoning Meat Pies, Etc

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Dry the herbs well.

  2. Place the spices and herbs in a tightly folded paper to retain aroma.

  3. Put them in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) to dry for 1 to 2 hours.

Finish and store

  1. Pound and sift the mixture through a sieve.

  2. Store in a tightly corked container.

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. Marjoram + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Nutmeg + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Nutmeg + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together687 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Clove + marjoramtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Clove + thymetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,108 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

What each ingredient does

Mace
Adds a warm, sweet, slightly peppery aroma that gives the blend its character.
Nutmeg
Contributes a warm, sweet aroma that rounds out the spice flavour.
Cloves
Provides a strong, pungent aroma that anchors the blend.
Whole peppercorns
Adds sharp, pungent heat that brightens the mixture.
Thyme
Adds a herbal, savoury aroma that complements the warm spices.

The step that matters

Drying in the slow oven. Too much heat can scorch the herbs and spices and drive off their volatile aromatic oils. Low, slow heat removes moisture so the mixture can be pounded and sifted cleanly and keeps well, while preserving flavour.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (nutmeg, clove, marjoram, thyme):

  1. Winter savoryfits better
  2. Allspicefits better
  3. Cinnamonfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against nutmeg, clove, marjoram, thyme. 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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