Why it works: Sage and pepper 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 ↓
Sucking Pig
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pig
Scald the pig if not already done.
Stuff the body with minced sage, pepper, salt, and bread.
Skewer the back to ensure crisping.
Roast
Place the pig over a brisk fire until thoroughly dry.
Rub the pig with butter using a cloth.
Dredge flour over the pig and do not touch it again until serving.
Carefully scrape off the flour with a blunt knife.
Rub the pig with the buttered cloth again.
Remove the head while at the fire.
Take out the brains.
Mix the brains with the gravy.
Serve
Cut the pig down the back and belly without withdrawing the spit.
Place it in a hot dish.
Garnish with ears and jaws.
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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Sage + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,388 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sage + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,115 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sage + breadtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,778 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Sucking pig
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooked whole and crisped over the fire.
- Butter
- Adds fat and moisture to the skin and helps it brown evenly.
- Flour
- Dredged over the skin to form a crust that crisps and browns as it cooks.
- Bread
- Soaks up juices inside the body, adding moisture and body to the stuffing.
- Sage leaves
- Contributes aroma and savory flavor to the stuffing.
The step that matters
Dredge flour over the pig and do not touch it again until serving. Flour forms a crust that crisps only if left undisturbed; handling or moving the pig can break it and prevent an even, crisp skin.
Swap the sage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, bread, butter, flour):
- Parsleyfits about as well
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Sagethe original
- Marjoramfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, bread, butter, flour. 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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