Name: Partridge Pie, a LA Chasseur
Ingredients: 2 partridges, cut into small pieces; ½ pound veal, trimmed and cut into scollops; ½ pound streaky bacon, partially boiled; ½ cup Soubise sauce; ¼ cup white sauce; 1 cup button mushrooms, chopped; 2 tablespoons chopped parsley; 1 teaspoon thyme; ¼ teaspoon Cayenne pepper; ¼ teaspoon salt; 2 hard-boiled egg yolks, halved; puff pastry for covering

Why it works: Parsley and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

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.

Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,057 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together11,585 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Mushroom + thymetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,557 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Mushroom + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together13,580 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Partridges: Provide the main meat, which becomes tender and flavourful during the long, slow bake.
Veal: Adds a tender, mild meat layer that softens and enriches the filling as it cooks.
Streaky bacon: Contributes fat and savoury flavour that seasons the meat and moistens the pie as it renders.
Button mushrooms: Add moisture and earthy flavour to the sauce mixture as they release liquid and soften.
White sauce: Binds the filling with a creamy, smooth texture that keeps the meat moist.
Hard-boiled egg yolks: Add richness and a soft, creamy texture to the filling.

The step that matters

Covering and baking the pie. Partridge and veal are lean and can dry out or toughen if the bake runs too hot or too long. Keeping the pastry sealed holds in steam and moisture, so the meat stays tender while the filling cooks through.

Swap the thyme

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, sauce, mushroom, parsley, pepper, egg):

Tarragonfits about as well
Thymethe original
Marjoramfits about as well
Capersfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, sauce, mushroom, parsley, pepper, egg. 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.

Partridge Pie, a LA Chasseur