Why it works: Pepper and thyme are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,585 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Veal and Ham Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°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 filling
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a skillet, sauté the onion until translucent.
Add the diced veal and ham, cooking until browned.
Season with salt, pepper, and thyme.
Stir in the beef broth and simmer for 10 minutes.
Assemble and bake
Roll out the pie crust and line a pie dish.
Fill with the meat mixture and cover with another layer of crust.
Seal the edges and cut slits in the top crust for steam to escape.
Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden brown.
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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Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,585 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Onion + beeftop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + thymetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,171 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Pepper + beeftop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal
- Provides the main meat, which browns in the skillet and becomes tender during simmering.
- Ham
- Adds savory, salty meat flavor and browns along with the veal.
- Onion
- Softens as it cooks, adding sweetness and aroma to the filling.
- Beef broth
- Adds liquid that moistens the meat mixture during simmering and carries flavor.
- Pie crust
- Forms the enclosing pastry that holds the filling and browns in the oven.
The step that matters
Browning the veal and ham. Browning the meat before filling the pie builds deeper flavor through the Maillard reaction. Meat crowded in the pan steams instead of browning, so cook in batches if needed.
Swap the thyme
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, ham, onion, pepper, beef):
- Celeryfits about as well
- Garlicfits about as well
- Parsleyfits about as well
- Thymethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, ham, onion, pepper, beef. 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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