Why it works: Onion and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and 68,474 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Giblet Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the giblets
Scald the goose giblets, then pick and singe them.
Remove the outer skin from the feet and cut the pinions in half, the neck into thirds, the gizzard into quarters, and the liver and heart into halves.
Wash all the giblets clean and place them in a saucepan.
Stew
Cover with water, add the onions, a little salt, and the black pepper, then stew until the gizzards are tender.
Assemble and bake
Remove the giblets and place them in a pie dish, seasoning with more pepper and salt.
Strain the cooking liquid and add ½ pint of it along with the port wine.
Optionally, lay a well-seasoned beef steak in the bottom of the dish before adding the giblets.
Once cooled, place puff pastry around the edge of the dish and cover the top with more pastry.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Onion + port winetop 19% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,148 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Pepper + port winetop 19% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,804 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Goose giblets
- Provide the main meat, which becomes tender through slow stewing in liquid.
- Onions
- Add aromatic sweetness and depth to the stewing liquid.
- Port wine
- Adds sweetness and a rich, fruity aroma to the cooking liquid.
- Puff pastry
- Forms a flaky, crisp crust that encloses the filling.
The step that matters
Stewing the giblets until the gizzards are tender. Gizzards are tough muscle and need long, gentle simmering in liquid to break down collagen. Stopping early leaves them chewy, while a hard boil can toughen the meat.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, port wine):
- Capsicumbetter flavor fit
- Shallotbetter flavor fit
- Carrotbetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, port wine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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.
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.