Name: Excellent REcIPE for Sausage
Ingredients: 9 pounds back fat; 12 ounces coarse sea salt; 2 ounces sage; 4 ounces black pepper; 12 pounds lean meat from the chine; 6 pounds fat meat; 5 tablespoons salt; 6 teaspoons sage; 2 teaspoons thyme; 5 teaspoons black pepper; 3 teaspoons sweet marjoram

Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

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.

Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,225 recipes

Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).
Sage + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together507 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Sage + thymetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,485 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Pepper + marjoramtop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,609 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Sage + peppertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked 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

Back fat: Provides fat that keeps the sausage moist and gives a rich texture.
Lean meat from the chine: Forms the lean body of the sausage, giving it bite and structure.
Fat meat: Adds further fat for moisture and a softer, richer texture.