Why it works: Pepper and pork are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 22,121 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Pigeon Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Sprinkle the pigeon quarters with pepper, coarse sea salt, and herb seasoning.
Place the sweet salt pork pieces at the bottom of a baking dish.
Assemble and bake
Lay the hard-boiled yolks between the pigeon pieces.
Pour in the gravy or water.
Cover the dish with puff pastry.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.
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 + porktop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,121 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pork + eggtop 30% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,387 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Pepper + eggtop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together50,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Pepper and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 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
- Young pigeons
- Provides the main meat, which becomes tender during the long, moist bake.
- Sweet salt pork
- Adds fat and savory flavor that bastes the pigeon as it cooks.
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Yolks add richness and a creamy texture to the filling.
- Gravy or water
- Supplies moisture so the filling stays juicy and the meat does not dry out.
- Puff pastry
- Its layers of fat and steam rise into a flaky, golden crust.
The step that matters
Baking until the pastry is golden brown. The pastry must cook through and brown so it is crisp and flaky. Pale pastry means the layers have not set, and the pigeon may be undercooked beneath it.
“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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