Why it works: Marjoram and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓
Seasoning for Raised Pies
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the seasoning
Pound the spices and herbs separately.
Sift the ground spices through a fine sieve.
Mix the sifted spices with the coarse sea salt.
Store the mixture in a stoppered bottle.
Use
Use 1 tablespoon for 1 lb. of filling and 1 teaspoon for 1 lb. of boned game.
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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Marjoram + thymetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,225 recipes
Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).
-
Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Allspice + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,331 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Basil + marjoramtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together688 recipes
Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).
-
Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,686 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Coarse sea salt
- Carries the blend and seasons the filling evenly throughout.
- White pepper
- Adds sharp, hot flavor that stays mild in pale pastry fillings.
- Cloves
- Contributes warm, pungent aroma that gives the blend depth.
- Allspice
- Adds a warm, blended aroma reminiscent of several spices together.
- Nutmeg
- Provides warm, sweet aroma that rounds out savory meat flavors.
Swap the white pepper
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, clove, allspice, basil, marjoram, thyme, nutmeg):
- Winter savoryfits better
- Sagefits better
- Rosemaryfits better
- White pepperthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, clove, allspice, basil, marjoram, thyme, nutmeg. 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.
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