Why it works: Pepper and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 33% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 50,580 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Pigeon or Lark Pie
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.
Prepare the filling
Truss the pigeons as for stewing.
Season the pigeons with salt and pepper.
Place the trimmed rump steak at the bottom of a pie dish.
Layer the pigeons on top of the steak.
Layer the yolks of the hard-boiled eggs on top of the pigeons.
Pour the broth or water over the layers.
Add another layer of rump steak.
Top and bake
Wet the edge of the pie dish.
Cover the dish with puff pastry.
Wash the top of the pastry with egg yolk.
Decorate the pastry with leaves and pigeon feet.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour.
Make a small opening in the top of the pie.
Pour hot gravy into the opening.
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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Pepper + eggtop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together50,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Pepper and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pigeons
- Provide the main meat, which becomes tender during the long, moist cooking under the pastry.
- Rump steak
- Adds beefy flavour and body to the filling as it cooks in the pie.
- Hard-boiled egg yolks
- Thicken the surrounding juices slightly and add richness to the filling.
- Puff pastry
- Forms a crisp, flaky crust that browns in the oven and seals in moisture.
- Egg yolk
- Brushed on the pastry, it promotes browning and a glossy finish.
The step that matters
Covering the dish with pastry and sealing the edge. Wetting the dish edge lets the pastry bond to it so steam stays inside. A tight seal keeps the meat and broth moist, so the filling cooks gently rather than drying out.
“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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