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Pigeons Potted

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,395 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Pigeons Potted

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.

  1. Clean and season the pigeons with salt and pepper.

  2. Place them closely together in a small deep pan.

  3. Cover the pigeons with butter and tie them with thin paper.

  4. Bake at 350°F (175°C) until cooked through.

  5. Once cooled, transfer them to pots that hold two or three pigeons each.

  6. Pour the baked butter over the pigeons, ensuring it is thick.

  7. For longer storage, bone the pigeons and shape them into an oval form in the pot.

  8. If desired, stuff the pigeons with forcemeat before baking.

  9. For a spicier flavor, add more allspice and a pinch of cayenne pepper before baking.

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 + allspicetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Pepper + vealtop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,049 recipes

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

  3. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

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

  4. Butter + vealtop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,381 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  5. Butter + allspicetop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,325 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

Swap the allspice

The recipe marks allspice as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, butter, veal):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Sagefits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Allspicethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, butter, veal. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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