Why it works: Egg and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Pigeon Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick 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).
Prepare the puff pastry and cover the top of the pie.
Cut a slit in the middle and decorate the edges with pastry leaves or braids.
Bake and finish
Bake in the oven for 1 hour.
In the last few minutes, brush the top with a beaten egg mixed with a little milk.
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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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pigeons
- Provide the main meat filling that makes up the body of the pie.
- Puff pastry
- Forms a flaky, crisp crust that covers and seals the pie.
- Egg
- Brushed on top, it promotes even browning and a glossy finish.
- Milk
- Mixed with the beaten egg, it helps the wash spread smoothly and brown more evenly.
The step that matters
Brushing the top with egg wash. Egg wash browns quickly, so it should be applied only in the last few minutes of baking. Applied too early, it can darken or burn before the pastry is cooked through.
“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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