Name: Pork Pies to Eat Cold
Ingredients: common boiled crust; trimmings and small bits of pork; meat from the sweet bone; cayenne pepper; white pepper; coarse sea salt

Why it works: Pork and meat are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,208 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Pork Pies to Eat Cold

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the pastry and meat

Shape the common boiled crust into a round or oval form.
Prepare the trimmings and small bits of pork.
If needed, remove meat from the sweet bone and beat it with a rolling pin.
Season the meat with cayenne pepper, white pepper, and coarse sea salt.

Assemble and bake

Layer the fat and lean meat in the crust, filling it close to the top.
Cover with the lid.
Smooth the edges and pinch to seal.
Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) until solid.

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.

Pork + meattop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,208 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Pork + peppertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,121 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pepper + white peppertop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,478 recipes

Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).
Meat + peppertop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together8,777 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Pork + white peppertop 30% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together791 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl butyrate (fruity, apple).

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

What each ingredient does

Common boiled crust: Forms the shell that holds the filling and keeps its shape while cooking.
Trimmings and small bits of pork: Supply the main filling, providing meaty flavour and body.
Meat from the sweet bone: Adds additional meat to the filling for flavour and texture.