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 ↓
New York Mock Duck
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Fill the rump steak with duck stuffing, bread, sweet salt pork, sage, chopped onion, pepper, and coarse sea salt.
Roll it up tightly and skewer the ends.
Tie a string around the middle.
Cook
Simmer in a covered pan with a little stock for 2 hours.
Remove from the pan and bake in the oven at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour without cover.
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.
-
Sage + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,388 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,214 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Pork + sagetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,527 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
-
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
- Rump steak
- Forms the outer wrapper that holds the stuffing together while it cooks.
- Duck stuffing
- Provides the main filling and flavour inside the rolled steak.
- Bread
- Adds bulk to the stuffing and soaks up juices for a moister filling.
- Sweet salt pork
- Adds fat and savoury flavour that keeps the filling moist as it cooks.
- Onion
- Softens and sweetens during cooking, adding aroma to the stuffing.
- Stock
- Provides liquid for gentle simmering, keeping the meat moist and tender.
The step that matters
Simmering the rolled steak. Simmering gently in covered liquid cooks the tough steak until tender without drying it. Boiling hard can toughen the meat and push out juices.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, pork, sage, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Tomatofits better
- Potatofits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, pork, sage, pepper. 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.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Brown Bread461 recipes
Pork Cake107 recipes
Roast Pork82 recipes
White Bread80 recipes