Name: Pilau of Birds
Ingredients: 2 or 3 large birds or 6 small birds; 1 pound bacon; water (enough to cover the birds); coarse sea salt (to taste); 2 pounds rice; 1 cup butter; 2 egg yolks

Why it works: Rice and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,645 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Pilau of Birds

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 350°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Cook the birds

Boil the birds and bacon in enough water to cover them well. Season with salt.
Once tender, remove the birds and a little of the cooking liquid.
Add the washed rice to the remaining liquid and cook covered until done.
Stir in the butter and additional salt to taste.

Assemble and bake

In a deep dish, layer some rice, then place the birds with bacon in the middle, and add the cooking liquid.
Cover with the remaining rice, smooth it out, and spread the beaten egg yolks on top.
Cover with a plate and bake in a moderate oven (350°F/175°C) for 15 to 20 minutes.

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.

Rice + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,645 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Rice + eggtop 28% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,350 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

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

What each ingredient does

Rice: Forms the bulk of the dish and absorbs the cooking liquid as it cooks until tender.
Butter: Adds richness and fat, giving the rice a smoother, more rounded flavor and mouthfeel.
Egg yolks: Enriches the top layer and helps it set and brown lightly in the oven.
Bacon: Releases fat and smoky flavor into the cooking liquid that the rice absorbs.

“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.