Why it works: Pepper and sage match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,388 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Spare Rib
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Rub the spare rib with coarse sea salt, black pepper, and powdered sage.
Place it in a dripping pan with ½ pint of water.
Roast and baste
Baste the rib very often to prevent it from drying out.
Ensure the meat is thoroughly cooked, as fresh pork is unpalatable when rare.
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 + sagetop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,388 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Spare rib
- The main meat; its fat and connective tissue soften and moisten the meat as it cooks.
- Powdered sage
- Adds an earthy, aromatic flavour to the meat's surface.
- Water
- Sits in the dripping pan, adding moisture and steam around the meat as it cooks.
The step that matters
Cook the rib thoroughly. Fresh pork is unpalatable when rare, so the meat must be cooked all the way through. Basting keeps the surface moist while the centre reaches full doneness.
“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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