Name: Lamb Pie
Ingredients: loin of lamb; parsley; mushrooms; gravy; pie crust; egg

Why it works: Lamb and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,322 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Lamb Pie

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.

Season the loin of lamb lightly.
Finely chop parsley and sprinkle it over the meat.
Slice a few mushrooms and add them for flavor.
Place a little gravy in a pie dish.
Cover with pie crust and brush the top with beaten egg.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until golden.
After baking, pour ½ pint of rich gravy into the pie using a funnel.

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.

Lamb + parsleytop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,322 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Parsley + mushroomtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,132 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Lamb + mushroomtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Parsley + eggtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,765 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Mushroom + eggtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,987 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).