Why it works: Carrot and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,555 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Pigeon 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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the filling
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a pan, melt the butter and sauté the onion and carrot until soft.
Add the pigeon and cook until browned on all sides.
Pour in the chicken broth and season with salt and pepper.
Simmer for 20 minutes, then remove from heat.
Assemble and bake
Place the pigeon mixture into the pie crust and cover with another crust.
Seal the edges and cut a few slits on top for steam to escape.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
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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Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,555 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21,601 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + chickentop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,814 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Carrot + chickentop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,338 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pigeon
- Provides the main meat, which browns and becomes tender during simmering.
- Pie crust
- Encloses the filling and browns in the oven to form the pie's structure.
- Onion
- Softens and adds sweetness and aroma to the filling base.
- Carrot
- Softens and adds sweetness and body to the filling base.
- Chicken broth
- Provides moisture that cooks the pigeon and forms the sauce in the filling.
- Butter
- Adds fat for sautéing the vegetables and browning the pigeon.
The step that matters
Simmering the filling before baking. The pigeon must be cooked through and the liquid reduced enough before it goes into the crust. Adding a wet, underdone filling makes the bottom crust soggy and the pie unevenly cooked.
Swap the carrot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, chicken, pepper, butter):
- Potatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Leekfits about as well
- Carrotthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against onion, chicken, pepper, butter. 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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