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Pigeon-pie, English Fashion

A savory pie made with pigeons, beef fillet, egg yolks, gravy, and puff pastry.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Pigeon-pie, English Fashion

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the pigeons

  1. Draw the pigeons.

  2. Singe the pigeons.

  3. Cut off the claws and pinions.

  4. Divide each pigeon into 2 or 4 parts.

Assemble the pie

  1. Line the bottom of a pie dish with thin slices of beef fillet.

  2. Season the beef with salt and pepper.

  3. Place the pigeon pieces on top of the beef.

  4. Add the cooked egg yolks.

  5. Season the pigeons with salt and pepper.

  6. Moisten the pigeons with good gravy until nearly covered.

  7. Wet the rim of the dish with water.

  8. Cover the rim with a strip of puff pastry.

  9. Cover the pigeons with another layer of puff pastry.

  10. Seal the edges.

  11. Egg wash the top.

Bake and serve

  1. Place the pie on a baking sheet.

  2. Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour and 15 minutes, covering with paper if it browns too quickly.

  3. Serve hot or cold.

  4. If serving cold, mix a little aspic jelly with the gravy.

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.

  1. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

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

  2. Beef + eggtop 31% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

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

  3. Pepper + eggtop 33% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together50,580 recipes

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

Pepper and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Pigeons
Provide the rich meat that forms the filling of the pie.
Beef fillet
Adds tender meat and savoury flavour beneath the pigeon pieces.
Cooked egg yolks
Add richness and a creamy texture to the filling.
Good gravy
Keeps the filling moist as it bakes and flavours the pigeon meat.
Puff pastry
Forms a flaky, crisp crust that encloses the filling and browns in the oven.

The step that matters

Covering with paper during baking. The pastry top browns quickly at high oven heat, while the filling still needs time to cook through. Covering it with paper slows browning and prevents the crust from burning before the meat is tender.

“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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