Name: Rabbit Pie
Ingredients: 2 rabbits, cut into pieces; Coarse sea salt, to taste; Butter, for tossing; Livers from the rabbits; Bacon fat, equal weight to the livers; Anchovy butter or a few oysters; Sliced lemon rind, to taste; Strong gravy, if using a dish without crust

Why it works: Liver and anchovy work together. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 199 recipes. Both carry hexanol, which smells green, fruity. The science ↓

Rabbit Pie

Ingredients

2 rabbits, cut into pieces
Coarse sea salt, to taste
Butter, for tossing
Livers from the rabbits
Bacon fat, equal weight to the livers
Anchovy butter or a few oysters
Sliced lemon rind, to taste
Strong gravy, if using a dish without crust

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 rabbit

Season the rabbit pieces with coarse sea salt.
Toss the seasoned rabbit in butter until half cooked.

Make the forcemeat

Make a forcemeat by mixing the livers, bacon fat, and anchovy butter or oysters.
Add sliced lemon rind to the forcemeat for flavor.

Assemble and bake

Line a stewpan or dish with crust and fill it with the forcemeat.
If using a dish without crust, pour in some strong gravy.
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 1.5 hours.

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.

Liver + anchovytop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together199 recipes

Shared aroma: hexanol (green, fruity).
Butter + anchovytop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,697 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Rabbit + anchovytop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together53 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Rabbit + lemontop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together626 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Rabbit + livertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together233 recipes

Shared aroma: geraniol (rose, geranium).

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

What each ingredient does

Rabbits: Provide the lean meat that becomes tender during slow baking in the pie.
Livers: Add rich, dense body and savory depth to the forcemeat filling.
Bacon fat: Adds richness and moisture to the forcemeat so it stays tender when baked.
Anchovy butter or oysters: Contribute a savory, salty depth that enriches the forcemeat's flavor.

“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.