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Cornish Pasties

A pastry filled with beef, potato, onion, and herbs, baked until golden.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Cornish Pasties

8 portions
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 filling

  1. Cut the meat and potatoes into small dice.

  2. Add the onion, herbs, salt, pepper, and gravy, and mix well.

Make the dough

  1. In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt.

  2. Rub in the fat lightly, then add enough water to form a dough without making it too moist.

  3. Divide the dough into 8 equal portions and roll each into a round shape.

Shape and bake

  1. Place the meat mixture in the center of each round, wet the edges, and fold to seal, creating a frill on top.

  2. Prick each pasty 2 or 3 times with a fork.

  3. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 45 minutes.

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. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  2. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

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

  3. Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,052 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  4. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

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

  5. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 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

Beef
Provides the main savoury filling that is cooked inside the pastry.
Flour
Forms the dough structure that holds the filling and sets when baked.
Fat
Shortens the dough, giving it a tender, crumbly texture.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking so the pastry rises slightly and becomes lighter.
Potato
Adds body and moisture to the filling so it stays juicy inside the pastry.

The step that matters

Keeping the dough moisture controlled. Adding too much water makes the dough sticky and tough to shape and seal, while too little makes it crack. Enough water gives a pliable dough that holds the filling and bakes into a tender case.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, beef, potato, pepper):

  1. Chivefits better
  2. Carrotfits about as well
  3. Capsicumfits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, beef, potato, 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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