Why it works: Pork and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 22,121 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Ham Sausages, Smoked, German
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the meat
Mix the minced lean pork and fat pork in a bowl.
Gradually add black pepper, saltpetre, and coarse sea salt while mixing.
Moisten the mixture with claret or Burgundy.
Let the mixture stand in a cool place for 6 to 8 hours.
Stuff and smoke
Fill prepared sausage skins tightly with the meat mixture, pressing down to eliminate air pockets.
Tie the ends of the sausages with new tape and hang them in cool smoke for 12 days.
Sausages should be 10 to 20 inches long.
Serve
They can be eaten raw after about a month or simmered gently in water for 1 hour before or after smoking.
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.
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Pork + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,121 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lean pork
- Provides the main lean meat body and structure of the sausage.
- Fat pork
- Adds fat that keeps the sausage moist and juicy as it cures and dries.
- Saltpetre
- Cures the meat, preserving its pink colour and adding a characteristic cured flavour.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture and seasons the meat while helping it cure.
- Claret or burgundy
- Moistens the mixture and adds wine flavour and acidity.
The step that matters
Stuffing the skins tightly. Pressing out air pockets prevents spoilage and uneven drying during the long cure, and keeps the sausage firm and even in texture.
“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.
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