Why it works: Pepper and egg 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 ↓
Grouse Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Line the bottom of a pie dish with neat pieces of rump steak.
If the grouse is large, cut it into joints; if small, leave it whole.
Season the meat with coarse sea salt, cayenne, and black pepper.
Pour the broth over the meat.
Assemble and bake
Cover the meat with puff pastry.
Brush the crust with the egg yolk.
Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Make the gravy and serve
Stew the backbones and trimmings with an onion, a little sherry, a bunch of herbs, and a blade of mace to make gravy.
Pour the gravy in after baking.
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 + eggtop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together50,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Pepper and egg 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
- Rump steak
- Provides the main meat and savoury flavour that the pie is built around.
- Puff pastry
- Forms the flaky, golden crust that covers and encloses the filling.
- Egg yolk
- Brushed on the crust to promote browning and a glossy finish.
- Broth
- Adds moisture and seasoned flavour to the meat as it cooks.
The step that matters
Covering the meat with pastry and baking. The crust must seal well so steam and juices stay in and the meat cooks through, while the pastry bakes crisp rather than soggy. Baking for the full time ensures tender meat.
“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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