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Pigeon Pie

A baked pigeon pie with stuffing or mashed potatoes, covered in pie paste and puff pastry, seasoned with salt, pepper, and optional parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Wheat and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,418 recipes. Both carry (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, melon. The science ↓

Pigeon Pie

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

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 the pigeons

  1. Clean and truss the pigeons, then rub the outsides and insides with a mixture of pepper and salt.

  2. Rub the insides with a bit of butter and fill them with stuffing or mashed potatoes.

  3. Sew up the slit.

Assemble the pie

  1. Butter the sides of a tin basin or pudding dish and line the sides with pie paste rolled to ¼ inch thick.

  2. Place the pigeons in the dish, add ½ cup of butter on top, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and parsley if desired.

  3. Dredge 1 tablespoon of flour over the pigeons and add enough water to nearly fill the pie.

  4. Lay skewers across the top and cover with a puff pastry crust.

  5. Cut a slit in the middle and decorate the edge.

Bake and finish

  1. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 1 hour.

  2. When nearly done, brush the top with a beaten egg mixed with a little milk.

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. Wheat + milktop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,418 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

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

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

  3. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Bread + wheattop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together209 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  5. Bread + milktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

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, which cooks slowly inside the pastry until tender.
Pie paste
Forms the structural lining and crust that holds the filling and bakes crisp.
Puff pastry crust (in the method)
Forms the flaky top crust that rises and browns in the oven.
Wheat flour
Thickens the cooking liquid into a light gravy around the pigeons.
Egg
Glazes the top crust, promoting browning and a glossy finish.
Butter
Adds richness and fat that moistens the meat and adds flavour.

The step that matters

Brushing the top with egg wash when nearly done. Applied too early, the egg glaze can over-brown or burn before the pastry and pigeons finish cooking. Timing it near the end gives an even golden color.

“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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