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Chicken and Oyster Pie

A pie filled with boiled chicken, oysters, ham, and white sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Chicken and Oyster Pie

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Prepare the filling

  1. Scald the oysters in their own juice.

  2. Make the White Sauce using the strained oyster juice, adding boiling water as needed.

  3. Stir in the grated onion and seasonings.

Assemble the pie

  1. Line a deep pie dish with a thin layer of paste.

  2. Build up the edges with 2 or 3 extra layers.

  3. Fill the dish with chicken, oysters, and ham, then pour the sauce over everything.

  4. Cover with paste rolled to ½ inch thick.

  5. Moisten edges to seal. Trim neatly.

  6. Cut an 'X' in the center of the crust.

  7. Bake on a separate tin a small piece of crust in a fancy shape to cover the hole in the pie.

Bake and serve

  1. Bake the pie for about 30 minutes at 350°F (175°C), ensuring it browns evenly.

  2. Brush the top with egg yolk and milk.

  3. Return to the oven for 2-3 minutes until browned.

  4. Serve hot.

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. Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Chicken + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  4. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

  5. Oyster + hamtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together360 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

What each ingredient does

Cold boiled chicken
Forms the bulk of the filling, providing substance and mild savory flavor.
Oysters
Add a briny, savory flavor and tender texture to the filling.
White sauce
Binds the filling and keeps it moist so it does not dry out in the oven.
Egg yolk (in the method)
Brushed on top to promote even browning and a glossy crust.

The step that matters

Brush the top with egg yolk and milk. Egg yolk proteins brown and set on contact with heat, so an even coat gives a glossy, uniform color. Uneven coverage leaves pale patches.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, sauce, oyster, onion, ham, sherry, pepper):

  1. Garlicfits about as well
  2. Thymefits about as well
  3. Celerythe original
  4. Parsleyfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, sauce, oyster, onion, ham, sherry, pepper. 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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