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 ↓
Pork Steaks
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the pork
Cook the pork steaks like beefsteak, but for a longer time, turning them more often.
Place the cooked pork steaks on a hot dish.
Season and serve
Brush both sides of the pork steaks with melted butter mixed with black pepper, coarse sea salt, powdered sage, and minced onion.
Cover the pork steaks and let them rest for a few minutes before serving.
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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Pepper + sagetop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,388 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,214 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pork + sagetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,527 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Sage + oniontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,628 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pork steaks
- Form the main body of the dish, cooked through and served tender when cooked longer.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture to the surface of the cooked steaks.
- Minced onion
- Adds savory flavor to the butter brushed over the steaks.
- Powdered sage
- Adds an earthy, aromatic flavor to the butter coating.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, butter, pepper, sage):
- Potatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Carrotfits about as well
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, butter, pepper, sage. 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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