Why it works: Sage and summer savory match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 237 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Country Pork Sausages
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the meat
Finely chop the lean pork and fat.
Mix in the salt, black pepper, sage, and summer savory with your hands.
Taste the mixture to ensure it has the right flavor.
Stuff and store
Stuff the mixture into cleaned hog intestines or long, narrow muslin bags.
Fill the bags with the meat and seal with melted lard.
Hang the sausages in a cool, dry, dark place.
Alternatively, pack the meat in jars, pour melted lard over it, and cover.
Cook and serve
When ready to use, form the meat into small round cakes and fry until 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.
-
Sage + summer savorytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together237 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Pepper + sagetop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,388 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Pepper + summer savorytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together671 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Pork + sagetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,527 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
-
Pork + summer savorytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together239 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lean fresh pork
- Provides the lean meat that forms the bulk of the sausage.
- Chine fat
- Adds fat for moisture and a juicy texture during cooking.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the meat and helps draw out flavor and bind the mixture.
- Ground sage
- Contributes the dominant savory, aromatic flavour typical of country sausage.
- Summer savory
- Adds a peppery, herbal aroma that complements the sage.
The step that matters
Mix in the seasonings by hand. Seasoning must be evenly distributed through the chopped meat and fat, since uneven salt or spice leaves some bites bland or overly salty. Tasting the mixture before stuffing lets you correct the seasoning while it can still be adjusted.
Swap the summer savory
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, pepper, sage):
- Marjoramfits better
- Thymefits better
- Summer savorythe original
- Rosemaryfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, pepper, sage. 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.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Pork Cake107 recipes
Roast Pork82 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes