Why it works: Pork and cider work together. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and 271 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓
The recipe
Serves 2Ingredients
Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.
Soak the dried butterbeans in plenty of water overnight, then drain. Put them in a pan of water, boil until tender, about 35 minutes, then drain.
Crush the hot beans roughly with the cold diced butter and a knob of butter, then season with salt and black pepper. Keep warm.
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Season the pork with salt and black pepper.
Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof pan over medium-high heat. Sear the pork for 2 to 3 minutes per side until browned.
Mix the black treacle with a splash of water and brush it over the pork. Roast the pork for 12 to 15 minutes until the thickest part reaches 145°F (63°C). Rest for 3 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a separate pan with a little of the pan juices, cook the crushed garlic and diced Braeburn apple for 3 minutes until softened.
Add the dry Devon cider and simmer until reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Add the beef stock, apple sauce and white wine vinegar, then simmer for 10 minutes.
Whisk in the 35g butter off the heat and season with salt and black pepper.
Spoon the crushed butterbeans onto plates, top with sliced pork and spoon over the cider apple sauce.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Pork + cidertop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together271 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Cider + appletop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together1,042 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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White wine + cidertop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together117 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).
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Olive + garlictop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together23,449 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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White wine + appletop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together357 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Flavor stand-ins for the garlic
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, white wine, vinegar, pepper, pork, olive, cider):
- Thymebetter flavor fit
- Garlicthe original
- Rosemaryabout as good a flavor fit
- Parsleyabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, white wine, vinegar, pepper, pork, olive, cider. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
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