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
Cut pork steaks about ½ inch thick and remove the skin.
Trim the steaks neatly and beat them.
Season with pepper, coarse sea salt, and powdered sage or sweet marjoram.
Broil over a clear fire until fully cooked, turning once.
To check doneness, cut one steak; if red inside, return it to the grill.
For gravy, stew trimmings or coarse pieces of pork with chopped onions in a little water.
Skim the gravy carefully and serve it in a boat with the steaks.
Serve the pork steaks with apple sauce.
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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Sage + appletop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together755 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, pepper, sage, onion, sauce):
- Limefits better
- Avocadofits better
- Lemonfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, pepper, sage, onion, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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