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Lemon and Tarragon Pulled Pork with Pitta Breads and Walnut Mayonnaise

Lemon cuts though the fat and sweetness of the glaze to make an absolutely irresistible pulled pork recipe. You’ll need to prepare it a day ahead, but boy oh boy it’s worth it.

By bbcfood · From Open Recipes · 29 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,973 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Lemon and Tarragon Pulled Pork with Pitta Breads and Walnut Mayonnaise

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

979Calories
72 gProtein
41 gFat
78 gCarbs

Counts 22 of 23 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 22 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pork100g cooked242
Chicken100g cooked165
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Bread1 slice (30g) white79
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Honey1 tbsp (21g)64
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Walnut1 walnut half (4g)26
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
White Cabbage1 cup shredded (89g)22
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Lettuce1 cup shredded (36g)5
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Mustard1 tsp (5g) yellow3
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Tarragon1 tsp dried (0.5g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Star Anisenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By bbcfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

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.

  1. Thyme + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,973 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Thyme + star anisetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together109 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Pork + chickentop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,417 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  4. Star anise + lemontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together163 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Thyme + white winetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,503 recipes

    Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).

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

Swap the star anise

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, thyme, lemon, pork, white wine, vinegar, chicken):

  1. Marjoramfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Rosemaryfits better
  4. Star anisethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, thyme, lemon, pork, white wine, vinegar, chicken. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.