Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
English Chicken Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a steady oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Cut the chickens into neat joints and arrange them in a deep pudding dish, higher in the middle.
Reserve the pinions, necks, and feet; scald and scrape the skin off the feet.
Make small meatballs from fine bread crumbs seasoned with pepper, salt, parsley, lemon peel, and the raw egg.
Place the meatballs in the pie and pour in the cold water.
Bake
Cover the pie with a crust, making a couple of cuts in the middle, and bake at 400°F (200°C) for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
If the pie browns too quickly, cover it with paper.
Make the gravy and finish
Soak the gelatine in cold water for 1 hour.
Make gravy from the wings, necks, and feet, seasoning it well; dissolve the soaked gelatine in the gravy.
Once the pie is done, pour the gravy into it through a small funnel inserted in the top.
Let the pie cool before cutting to allow the meat to be embedded in jelly.
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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Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Chicken + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,092 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Chicken + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,958 recipes
Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Chickens
- Provide the meat that is set in the jelly, cooked through during baking.
- Fine bread crumbs (in the method)
- Bind the seasoned meatballs and keep them tender and moist as they cook.
- Raw egg
- Binds the bread crumb meatballs so they hold their shape while baking.
- Gelatine
- Sets the gravy into a jelly that holds the meat in place once cooled.
The step that matters
Let the pie cool before cutting. Gelatine needs time to cool and firm into a jelly; cutting early lets the gravy run out and the slices collapse.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, pepper, lemon, egg):
- Parsleythe original
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Marjoramfits less well
- Thymefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, pepper, lemon, egg. 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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