Why it works: Pepper and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,015 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Pork Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Season the pork with pepper, salt, and nutmeg.
Make a thick paste with butter and flour, then cover the bottom and sides of a deep dish.
Assemble
Layer the pork in the dish, followed by a layer of peeled, cored, and chopped pippin apples.
Sprinkle sugar over the apples to make them very sweet.
Repeat layering with pork and apples until the dish is full.
Pour in ½ pint of water or white wine.
Cover the pie with a thick lid of paste, notching and decorating it as desired.
Bake
Bake in a brisk oven at 400°F (200°C) until well cooked.
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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Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Apple + white winetop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together372 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Butter + white winetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,083 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Butter
- Enriches the paste, adding fat that makes it tender and rich.
- Flour
- Forms the paste that structures the pie case and lid.
- Lean pork
- Provides the savory meat filling that cooks through in the oven.
- Pippin apples
- Add tartness and moisture that soften into the filling as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the apples, balancing the savory pork.
The step that matters
Bake until the pork is well cooked. Pork must reach a safe internal temperature throughout, and the thick filling and lid slow heat penetration, so the pie needs to bake long enough for the center to cook through.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, pepper, nutmeg, butter, flour, sugar, white wine):
- Lemonfits better
- Figfits about as well
- Raisinfits about as well
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, pepper, nutmeg, butter, flour, sugar, white wine. 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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