Name: Kidney Sausage
Ingredients: 2 hog kidneys, well cleaned; 2 lb firm pork (1/4 fat); 154 grains coarse sea salt (formerly 'bay salt') per lb; 31 grains white pepper per lb; 3 grains allspice per lb; 1 tablespoon red wine

Why it works: White pepper and allspice work together. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 272 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Kidney Sausage

Ingredients

2 hog kidneys, well cleaned
2 lb firm pork (1/4 fat)
154 grains coarse sea salt (formerly 'bay salt') per lb
31 grains white pepper per lb
3 grains allspice per lb
1 tablespoon red wine

Directions

Prepare the meat

Finely chop the hog kidneys first, then chop the firm pork.
Combine the chopped kidneys and pork in a bowl.

Season and form

Add the salt, white pepper, allspice, and red wine to the meat mixture.
Knead the mixture well until combined.
Fill narrow hog casings with the mixture, packing them to their full length.

Cook and serve

Fry the sausages before serving.

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.

White pepper + allspicetop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together272 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Pork + allspicetop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,194 recipes

Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
Pork + red winetop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together680 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Allspice + red winetop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together120 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
White pepper + red winetop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together61 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-terpineol (lilac, floral).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Hog kidneys: Provide the main organ-meat flavor and a soft, finely textured body to the sausage.
Firm pork: Adds fat and structure, keeping the sausage juicy and holding its shape when cooked.
Red wine: Adds acidity and aroma that balance the rich meat flavor.