Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Cornish Pasties
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the filling
Wash and peel the potatoes, then cut them into slices.
Peel and slice the onion.
Cut the meat into small pieces and mix with the potatoes, onion, salt, pepper, and water on a plate.
Assemble and bake
Divide the pastry into four pieces and roll each into a round shape.
Place a portion of the meat mixture on each piece of pastry, wet the edges, fold over, and seal.
Place the pasties on a greased baking sheet and bake at 400°F (200°C) for about 20 minutes.
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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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,052 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Short-crust pastry
- Forms a sturdy case that holds the filling and bakes into a crisp, golden shell.
- Beef
- Provides the main meat filling, which cooks through in the oven and adds rich flavour.
- Potatoes
- Add starchy bulk to the filling and help keep it moist as it bakes.
- Onion
- Adds savoury depth and aroma to the filling as it cooks.
The step that matters
Seal the edges firmly. Wetting and sealing the pastry edges keeps the juices and steam inside during baking. A weak seal can let filling leak out and leave the pasty dry and unevenly cooked.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, potato, pepper):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Tomatofits about as well
- Carrotfits about as well
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, potato, pepper. 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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