Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Pork Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a rather hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Cut the pork into very thin slices, about 3 inches long and 2 inches wide.
Layer and season
Layer the pork slices in a pie dish.
Sprinkle chopped parsley, onion, pepper, and salt over the pork.
Add another layer of pork and repeat the seasoning, using nutmeg sparingly.
Continue layering until the dish is full.
Pour stock or water into the dish and add ketchup.
Cover and bake
Place pastry around the edge of the dish and cover with a lid.
Bake in the oven for at least 2 hours, covering with paper if necessary.
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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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Parsley + nutmegtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,062 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,214 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pork loin
- Forms the bulk of the filling and becomes tender during the long, slow bake.
- Onion
- Adds savoury sweetness and aroma as it softens and flavours the meat.
- Parsley
- Contributes fresh, herbal aroma that lifts the rich pork.
- Ketchup
- Adds sweetness and acidity to the cooking liquid, deepening the flavour.
- Plain pastry
- Encloses the filling, holding in moisture and steam while the pie cooks.
The step that matters
Bake for at least 2 hours with the lid sealed. Pork needs sustained heat to become fully cooked and tender. The sealed pastry traps steam and moisture, so the meat braises rather than dries out. Covering with paper stops the crust from over-browning during the long bake.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, parsley, pepper, nutmeg, ketchup):
- Capsicumfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, parsley, pepper, nutmeg, ketchup. 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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