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Pork Tenderloins

Sautéed pork tenderloins seasoned with powdered sage, pepper, and salt, served with apple sauce or grape/currant jelly.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Sage and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,388 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Pork Tenderloins

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Split the tenderloins lengthwise without separating them.

  2. Spread them open and rub all over with powdered sage, then sprinkle with pepper and salt.

Cook and serve

  1. Heat a frying pan over high heat and melt the butter or drippings.

  2. Place the tenderloins in the pan and cook for about 1 minute before turning them.

  3. Do not leave them on one side for too long.

  4. Sauté until slightly browned and firm to the touch.

  5. Ensure the pork is thoroughly cooked, as it should always be well done.

  6. Serve with apple sauce or grape/currant jelly.

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. Sage + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,388 recipes

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

  2. Pork + sagetop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,527 recipes

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

  3. Pork + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,933 recipes

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

  4. Pork + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,121 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Sage + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,312 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

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

What each ingredient does

Pork tenderloins
Form the main body of the dish, cooking to a tender, sliceable texture when sautéed.
Butter or sweet drippings
Conducts heat to the pan and adds richness and browning to the outside of the meat.
Powdered sage
Adds aromatic, earthy flavour that penetrates the surface of the pork.

The step that matters

Turning the tenderloins at the right time. Searing one side for about a minute builds a browned crust that adds flavour. Leaving it too long on one side can scorch the surface before the interior cooks through, so turn it promptly and monitor the heat.

Swap the sage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, pepper, butter):

  1. Sagethe original
  2. Thymefits about as well
  3. Parsleyfits about as well
  4. Marjoramfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, pepper, butter. 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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