Why it works: Flour and jerusalem artichoke match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 116 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Rabbit Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the rabbit
Prepare the rabbit for stewing and cut it into pieces.
Place the rabbit in a pan with water or veal gravy and cook until half done.
Assemble and bake
Transfer the meat to a pie dish and sprinkle with flour.
Add the cream and the gravy from cooking the rabbit.
Layer the sliced Jerusalem artichokes on top.
Cover with a thick pie crust and bake at 400°F (200°C) until golden.
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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Flour + jerusalem artichoketop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together116 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cream + jerusalem artichoketop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together182 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
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Rabbit + creamtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together409 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
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Rabbit + jerusalem artichoketop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10 recipes
Shared aroma: geraniol (rose, geranium).
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Rabbit + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,067 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rabbit
- Provides the main meat, which becomes tender as it cooks in the pie.
- Flour
- Thickens the cooking liquid into a sauce as it bakes.
- Cream
- Adds richness and moisture to the sauce, giving it a smooth texture.
- Jerusalem artichokes
- Add a mild, nutty flavour and firm texture to the filling.
The step that matters
Cooking the rabbit until half done. Stopping at half done leaves the meat partly cooked so it can finish in the oven without drying out. Cooking it fully first would make it tough and dry once baked again.
“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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