Why it works: Sage and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,445 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Roast Pig
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Make a dressing by mixing bread crumbs, sage, salt, and pepper.
Stuff the pig with the dressing.
Sew it up.
Fasten the legs back to ensure the under part crisps nicely.
Dredge the pig with flour.
Roast and baste
Place it in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C).
Baste frequently with melted butter.
Make the gravy and serve
Once done, pour off the fat from the drippings.
Add water.
Thicken for gravy.
Serve the gravy in a dish.
Stand the pig up on a platter.
Garnish with green parsley or celery tops.
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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Sage + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,445 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Sage + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,388 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pig
- Forms the main body of the dish, which is stuffed, roasted and carved for serving.
- Bread crumbs
- Form the body of the dressing, absorbing juices and keeping the stuffing moist.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, and helps the skin brown as it is basted over the pig.
- Flour
- Dusted over the pig to help the surface brown and crisp in the oven.
- Sage
- Adds an aromatic, savory herbal flavor to the dressing.
The step that matters
Fasten the legs back to ensure the under part crisps nicely.. Tucking the legs keeps the underside in more even contact with the hot oven, so it can brown and crisp instead of staying pale and soft.
Swap the sage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, pepper, flour, butter, parsley):
- Marjoramfits about as well
- Thymefits about as well
- Sagethe original
- Capersfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, pepper, flour, butter, parsley. 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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