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Kidney Pudding

Kidney pudding is a savory dish of mutton kidneys encased in pastry, simmered with gravy and wine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and white wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,433 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Kidney Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the kidneys

  1. Split the mutton kidneys.

  2. Soak the kidneys.

  3. Slice the kidneys.

  4. Season the kidneys with salt, Cayenne, dried herbs, and minced eschalot.

Assemble the pudding

  1. Lay the seasoned kidneys in the pastry.

  2. Add gravy and white wine.

  3. Cover the pastry over the kidneys.

  4. Tie the pastry up.

Cook

  1. Boil for 1.5 hours.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Pepper + white winetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,433 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,442 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Mutton + white winetop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together94 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Mutton kidneys
Provide the main meat and rich, savoury flavour of the filling.
Pastry
Encloses the filling so it cooks in its own steam and stays moist.
Gravy
Adds moisture and savoury depth to the filling as it cooks.
White wine
Adds acidity and aroma that brighten the rich kidney flavour.
Eschalot
Adds a mild, sweet onion-like aroma to the seasoning.

The step that matters

Tie the pastry up. The pastry must be sealed tightly so steam and juices stay inside while the pudding boils. A loose seal lets water in and the filling dry out or turn watery.

“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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