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Potato Pasty

A baked pasty filled with seasoned meat and mashed potatoes, topped with a crust of potatoes.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,305 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Potato Pasty

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Procure a pasty pan with a well-fitting perforated plate and valve-pipe.

  2. Trim and season the meat, then place it in the lower part of the pasty pan.

  3. Pour a small quantity of gravy over the meat.

Bake and serve

  1. Spread mashed potatoes evenly on top, forming a crust at least 3 inches thick.

  2. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until the potatoes are nicely browned.

  3. Serve in the same tin with a folded napkin around it, and do not remove the cover until serving.

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. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Meat + potatotop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together786 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  3. Meat + peppertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,777 recipes

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

  4. Meat + eggtop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,432 recipes

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

  5. Potato + eggtop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,978 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Meat
Provides the savoury filling that the potato crust encloses and bastes with its juices.
Potatoes
Form the thick crust that bakes to a golden, browned top and holds the filling in.
Gravy
Adds moisture to the filling so the meat stays juicy during baking.
Beaten egg
Promotes browning on the potato crust when brushed on before baking.

The step that matters

Spreading the potato crust. The crust must be at least 3 inches thick so it insulates the meat and bakes through without drying the filling. Spreading it evenly keeps the thickness consistent across the pan.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, pepper, egg):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Asparagusfits better
  3. Spinachfits about as well
  4. Potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, pepper, egg. 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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