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Partridge Pie

A savory pie of partridges with liver, bacon, mushrooms, and veal gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,737 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Partridge Pie

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the filling

  1. Truss the partridges as you would fowls for boiling.

  2. In a mortar, combine the livers, bacon, parsley, shallots, pepper, salt, and mace; beat until a paste forms.

  3. Add fresh mushrooms to the paste and mix well.

Assemble the pie

  1. Roll out the pie crust and cover the bottom with the seasoning mixture.

  2. Place the partridges in the crust without stuffing them.

  3. Spread the remaining seasoning around the sides and between the partridges.

  4. Top with additional pepper, salt, mace, shallots, mushrooms, and finely beaten bacon.

  5. Cover with a lid and bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 2 hours.

Finish and serve

  1. Remove the lid, take out the bacon, and skim off the fat.

  2. Add the veal gravy and orange juice, then serve hot.

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. Parsley + shallottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,737 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Liver + vealtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together392 recipes

    Shared aroma: enoic acid (butter, cheesy).

  4. Shallot + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,982 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Parsley + orangetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together680 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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 cooks through slowly inside the crust.
Bacon
Adds fat and savory flavor that keeps the seasoning moist as it bakes.
Mushrooms
Add moisture and earthy flavor to the seasoning paste.
Veal gravy
Adds body and rich savory flavor to the finished pie.
Shallots
Add mild onion-like aroma and sweetness to the seasoning.
Orange juice
Adds acidity that brightens the rich meat and gravy.

The step that matters

Skim off the fat before adding the gravy. Rendered bacon and meat fat float on the cooking liquid and can make the gravy greasy and heavy. Removing it first leaves a cleaner, more balanced sauce.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (liver, parsley, shallot, pepper, mushroom, veal, orange):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Marjoramfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against liver, parsley, shallot, pepper, mushroom, veal, orange. 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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