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Pork Cheese

A seasoned pork dish baked with gravy and herbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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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 ↓

Pork Cheese

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare

  1. Cut the pork into small, neat pieces and season with pepper and salt.

  2. Mix the sage, parsley, thyme, marjoram, mace, lemon rind, and nutmeg together.

Bake and serve

  1. Put the meat into a mold and sprinkle the seasoning mixture over it.

  2. Cover the meat with strong gravy.

  3. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour.

  4. Let the meat cool, then turn it out 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.

  1. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Sage + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together507 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).

  3. Sage + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,485 recipes

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

  4. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Parsley + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

What each ingredient does

Roast pork
Forms the body of the dish, setting into a firm, sliceable loaf as it cools.
Strong gravy
Adds moisture and savoury depth, keeping the meat from drying out while it bakes.
Sage
Contributes a strong herbal aroma that stands out against the rich pork.
Nutmeg
Adds warm, aromatic flavour that complements the pork fat.

The step that matters

Letting the meat cool before turning it out. Gelatin from the gravy and meat sets as the mixture cools, so it holds its shape. Turning it out while still warm can cause it to crumble or slump.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, pepper, sage, parsley, thyme, marjoram, lemon):

  1. Winter savoryfits better
  2. Rosemaryfits better
  3. Oreganofits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, pepper, sage, parsley, thyme, marjoram, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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