Name: To Stew Pigeons
Ingredients: 2 fresh pigeons; water for soaking; 1 hard white cabbage; milk for boiling; salt; pepper; fat bacon; eggs

Why it works: Cabbage and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,081 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

To Stew Pigeons

Ingredients

Directions

Crop, draw, and wash the pigeons thoroughly.
Soak the pigeons in water for half an hour.
Slice the cabbage as if for pickling and drain it.
Boil the cabbage in milk until tender.
Season the pigeons with salt and pepper.
Cover each pigeon with a piece of fat bacon to keep them moist.
Add eggs if desired before serving.

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.

Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,081 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together88,785 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk + peppertop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together26,984 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Cabbage + milktop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together599 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Cabbage + eggtop 32% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,391 recipes

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