Name: Stuffed Leg of Pork
Ingredients: 1 leg of pork; fresh mashed potatoes; 1 minced onion; salt to taste; pepper to taste; sage to taste; pork sausage meat; 1 whole egg; a few apples

Why it works: Pepper and sage 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 ↓

Stuffed Leg of Pork

Oven, in the book's wordsA medium oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a medium oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the pork

Lay the leg of pork skin side down and remove the hock.
Cut along the leg bone to the knuckle joint and remove the leg bone, leaving the knuckle bone in.
Fill the cavity with a stuffing of mashed potatoes, minced onion, salt, pepper, sage, sausage meat, and one egg.
Draw the meat together, tie tightly, and score the rind.

Bake and serve

Bake slowly at 300°F (150°C) with a few apples in the pan until done, basting with apple juice and gravy.
Allow to cool thoroughly before slicing and 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.

Pepper + sagetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,388 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pork + potatotop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,668 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,305 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Sage + appletop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together755 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Egg: Binds the stuffing so it holds together when sliced.
Fresh mashed potatoes: Adds bulk and moisture to the stuffing inside the meat.
Pork sausage meat: Adds fat and savory flavor to the stuffing.
Apples: Add sweetness and aroma to the pan juices used for basting.

The step that matters

Bake slowly at 300°F (150°C). A slow, moderate oven lets the large joint cook through evenly and the stuffing reach a safe temperature without the outside drying or burning. Basting keeps the surface moist and helps the rind and juices develop flavor.

Swap the apple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, potato, onion, pepper, sage, meat, egg):

Lemonfits better
Limefits better
Avocadofits better
Applethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, potato, onion, pepper, sage, meat, egg. 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.