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 ↓
Chicken Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a steady oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the chicken
Cut the chickens into neat joints.
Arrange the chicken joints in a deep pudding dish, higher in the middle.
Reserve the pinions, necks, and feet.
Scald the feet and scrape off the skin from the feet.
Mix bread crumbs with pepper, salt, parsley, lemon peel, and the raw egg to form small balls.
Place the balls in the pie.
Pour in the cold water.
Make the gravy
Soak the gelatin in cold water for 1 hour.
Make gravy from the wings, feet, and necks.
Season the gravy well.
Dissolve the gelatin in the gravy.
Bake and serve
Cover the pie with a crust.
Make a couple of cuts in the middle of the crust.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
If the pie browns too quickly, cover it with paper.
Once the pie is done, pour the gravy into it through a small funnel inserted in the top.
Let the pie cool.
Cut the pie.
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.
-
Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Chicken + breadtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,258 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity).
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 cooks through in the pie and becomes tender.
- Gelatin
- Sets the dissolved gravy so it firms up as the pie cools.
- Raw egg
- Binds the bread crumbs so they hold together as small balls.
- Bread crumbs
- Bind with the egg to form soft balls that add body to the filling.
The step that matters
Dissolve the gelatin in the gravy. Gelatin must be fully dissolved in warm gravy before it is poured in; undissolved granules leave gritty spots and it will not set evenly as the pie cools.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, gelatin, bread, pepper, lemon, egg):
- Parsleythe original
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Thymefits less well
- Celeryfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, gelatin, bread, 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.
More chicken pie recipes
You might also like
Brown Bread461 recipes
Chicken Broth257 recipes
Lemon Sauce236 recipes
Chicken Soup156 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.