Name: Lark-pie, in a Dish
Ingredients: score of singed larks; butter; thin slices of streaky bacon or ham; coarse sea salt; gravy; kneaded butter; thin slices of beef or veal

Why it works: Ham and beef are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,729 recipes. Both carry 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, which smells popcorn, roasted. The science ↓

Lark-pie, in a Dish

Ingredients

Directions

Cut off the paws and neck of the larks and remove the gizzard.
In a frying pan, melt some butter and add the larks and bacon or ham.
Season and fry on a brisk fire for 5-6 minutes, then drain on a dish.
Pour a little gravy into the pan and let it boil for 2 minutes.
Thicken the gravy with a little sauce or kneaded butter and pour it over the larks.
Mask the bottom of a pie dish with thin slices of beef or veal and season them.
Arrange the larks on top and baste with the sauce.
Once cooled, cover the pie as directed.

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.

Ham + beeftop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,729 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Butter + hamtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,475 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Butter + beeftop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,847 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).