Why it works: Egg and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 33% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 50,580 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Pigeon Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Draw the pigeons and cut them in halves.
Cut the steak into thin strips and season it along with the pigeons.
Assemble
Place half of the steak in a pie dish, followed by half of the pigeons and hard-boiled yolks. Repeat the layers.
Pour the stock over the layers.
Cover with pastry and finish as directed for steak pie.
Wash and clean the legs of two pigeons, placing them claws uppermost in the center hole of the crust.
Bake
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 1 hour.
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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Egg + peppertop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together50,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 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
- Pigeons
- Provide the main meat, which becomes tender during the long slow bake.
- Rump steak
- Adds meaty body and flavour that keeps the filling moist alongside the pigeon.
- Hard-boiled egg yolks
- Add richness and a crumbly texture to the filling.
- Stock
- Provides moisture that cooks the meat and forms the savoury gravy in the pie.
- Puff or flaky pastry
- Forms a crisp, golden lid that seals in the filling.
The step that matters
Pouring the stock over the layers. Stock added before baking supplies the liquid that gently cooks the meat and forms the gravy, so the filling should be moist but not swimming when the crust goes on.
“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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