Why it works: Flour and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 50,459 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Stewed Sausages
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the sausages
Prick the sausages well all over with a fork, and soak them in very hot water for two or three minutes to swell them out.
Roll the sausages in flour, and fry them until brown, being careful not to overcook them.
When the sausages are done, place them on a plate.
Make the gravy and serve
Fry some slices of bread, and set them on a dish.
Place the sausages on the fried bread, and shake a spoonful of flour into the pan.
Add a pennyworth of chopped mixed pickles, a gill of water, and a little pepper and salt.
Bring the gravy to a boil, and pour it over the sausages.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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.
-
Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sausages (in the method)
- Pricking and soaking swell them, and frying browns their outside while the inside cooks.
- Flour
- Coats the sausages so they brown, and thickens the pan liquid into gravy.
- Mixed pickles (in the method)
- Add sharp acidity and tang to the gravy.
The step that matters
Frying the sausages until brown without overcooking them. Overcooking toughens the meat and causes it to split or dry out, while the flour coating needs enough heat to brown properly.
“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.
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipes