Name: Sausage Meat
Ingredients: 25 pounds chopped meat (1/3 fat, 2/3 lean); 20 tablespoons sage; 25 tablespoons coarse sea salt; 10 tablespoons black pepper; 4 tablespoons summer savory

Why it works: Sage and summer savory match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 237 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Sausage Meat

Ingredients

25 pounds chopped meat (1/3 fat, 2/3 lean)
20 tablespoons sage
25 tablespoons coarse sea salt
10 tablespoons black pepper
4 tablespoons summer savory

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the chopped meat, sage, salt, pepper, and summer savory.
Mix thoroughly until well combined.
To render lard, cut the fat into 1-inch pieces and place in a clean pot over low heat.
Cook until the scraps turn reddish brown, being careful not to burn them.
Strain the lard through a strong cloth into a tin pan and let it cool.
Once cooled, pack the lard into a stone jar.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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 + summer savorytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together237 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Sage + peppertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,388 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Pepper + summer savorytop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together671 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Meat + peppertop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together8,777 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Meat + summer savorytop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together73 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).