Why it works: Nutmeg and mace match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 6,557 recipes mention both. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Also mentioned in the method: egg white, egg yolk
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the meat
Bone the goose and fowl.
Parboil the smoked tongue, then peel it and cut off the root.
Mix nutmeg, mace, pepper, and salt.
Season the fowl and goose with the mixture.
Build the pie
Roll out the pastry to about 1 inch thick.
Cut two oval pieces for the top and bottom of the pie.
Cut one long piece for the sides.
Brush the pastry with beaten egg white.
Pinch the edges of the wall piece to the bottom piece, ensuring it stands alone.
Fill the pie with the goose, fowl, tongue, and any game meat, ensuring no bones are included.
Add bits of ham or forcemeat balls.
Cover the filling with butter.
Place the top crust on, slightly below the edge of the wall.
Seal well and decorate with pastry cutouts.
Bake and serve
Glaze the pie with beaten egg yolk.
Wrap the edges with paper.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 4 hours.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Nutmeg + macetop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together6,557 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Nutmeg + peppertop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Mace + peppertop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together12,257 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Nutmeg + buttertop 9% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together24,374 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Mace + buttertop 10% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together11,405 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Mace and butter share little aroma chemistry, yet 11,405 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Goose
- Provides the main body of rich meat that fills the pie.
- Fowl
- Adds more meat and layered flavour to the filling alongside the goose.
- Butter
- Covers the filling to add richness and moisture as the pie bakes.
- Pastry
- Forms the walls and lid that hold the filling and set into a sturdy crust.
- Smoked tongue
- Contributes a smoky, savoury flavour and a firm texture to the filling.
The step that matters
Pinch the wall to the base so it stands alone. A pie wall that is not firmly sealed to the base can slump or leak during the long bake, and the crust needs enough structure to hold the filling while it cooks.
Flavor stand-ins for the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (nutmeg, pepper, butter):
- Cinnamonbetter flavor fit
- Parsleyabout as good a flavor fit
- Cloveabout as good a flavor fit
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against nutmeg, pepper, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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