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Grouse Pie

A pie of roasted grouse served on toast with gravy, bread sauce, and fried breadcrumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Grouse Pie

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 grouse

  1. Hang the grouse in a cool, dry place for 3 to 4 days.

  2. Pluck and draw the birds.

  3. Truss the birds like roast chicken.

  4. Tie a slice of bacon over each breast.

Roast

  1. Roast in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 40 to 45 minutes, basting frequently with hot fat.

  2. Remove the bacon when nearly done.

  3. Dredge the grouse with flour.

  4. Baste well for a nice brown appearance.

Serve

  1. Toast the bread lightly.

  2. Place the toast in the dripping-tin to catch the gravy.

  3. Dish the grouse on the toast.

  4. Serve the gravy, bread sauce, and breadcrumbs separately.

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. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together15,338 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Bread + saucetop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,934 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 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

Grouse
Forms the main body of the pie and provides the rich, gamey meat.
Bacon
Lays fat over the breasts, keeping the lean meat moist and adding savoury flavour during roasting.
Toast
Soaks up the pan juices and gravy, giving a moist base under the birds.
Butter or good dripping
Carries heat and fat over the birds, helping them brown and stay moist while basting.
Flour (in the method)
Dusted over the grouse to help form a browned, slightly crisp surface.

The step that matters

Basting the grouse. Lean game birds dry out easily. Frequent basting with hot fat keeps the meat moist and helps the skin brown evenly.

“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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