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French Canadian Shepherd's Pie

A staple in every french canadian household, named "Pate chinois" in french, which could be translated by "Chinese pie". It is said that in the early 18th century, there was a lot of chinese people coming to Canada to work on the train tracks and the food served on the building sites were mainly made with corn, beef and potatoes, the main ingredients of the "Pate chinois".

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French Canadian Shepherd's Pie

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 ↓

French Canadian Shepherd's Pie

Serves 4

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

982Calories
44 gProtein
55 gFat
83 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Corn1/2 cup kernels (82g)77
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By bbcgoodfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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 + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  2. Potato + corntop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together938 recipes

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

  3. Potato + olivetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,458 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  4. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

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

  5. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

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

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, potato, cream, corn, milk, butter, olive):

  1. Tomatofits about as well
  2. Capsicumfits about as well
  3. Onionthe original
  4. Asparagusfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, potato, cream, corn, milk, butter, olive. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.