Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Raised Pie with Mutton
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the filling
Remove the meat from the neck of mutton in one piece and cut it into 1‑inch thick slices, then into squares.
Keep the fat and lean meat separate.
If the mutton is lean, add diced fat bacon.
Season the meat with salt, black pepper, and chopped parsley.
Make the crust
For the crust, work the butter or suet into the flour and salt before adding water to form a stiff dough.
Assemble and bake
Pack the meat tightly in the pie, alternating layers of fat and lean.
Cover the pie with a cap of crust.
Seal the crust with egg white and make a hole in the center.
Brush the pie with beaten egg.
Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) until cooked through.
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 + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Parsley + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,675 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Parsley + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together28,563 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,442 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they 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
- Mutton neck
- Provides the main meat, with fat and lean layers that give the filling its flavor and juiciness.
- Flour
- Forms the stiff dough that gives the crust its structure.
- Butter or clarified beef suet
- Fat worked into the flour, which keeps the crust tender and flaky as it bakes.
- Egg white (in the method)
- Seals the crust edges so the filling stays enclosed.
- Beaten egg (in the method)
- Coats the crust, promoting browning and a glossy finish.
The step that matters
Work the fat into the flour before adding water. Rubbing cold fat into the flour coats the flour particles and limits gluten development, so the crust stays tender rather than tough. Keeping the fat cold helps it stay in small pieces that create flakiness.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, pepper, flour, butter):
- Parsleythe original
- Turmericfits about as well
- Nutmegfits less well
- Cardamomfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, pepper, flour, butter. 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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