Why it works: Parsley and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,768 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓
Sucking Pig
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Clean the suckling pig, removing the hooves and internal organs, leaving the kidneys.
Skewer the pig and fill it with butter kneaded with parsley, green onions, mushrooms, and onions with cloves stuck in each.
Roast and serve
Place the pig on a spit before a good fire.
Baste often with melted butter and then with drippings.
When done, serve with an oil 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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Parsley + clovetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,768 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Onion + mushroomtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,626 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Mushroom + clovetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,663 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, and melted butter basting promotes golden browning on the skin.
- Mushrooms
- Add earthy flavour and moisture to the stuffing as they cook.
- White onions
- Add sweetness and aroma to the stuffing as they soften in the heat.
The step that matters
Basting the pig often. Regular basting with melted butter and then drippings keeps the surface moist and helps it brown evenly. Letting it dry out during roasting leaves the skin tough and patchy.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, parsley, onion, mushroom):
- Thymefits better
- Garlicfits better
- Capersfits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, parsley, onion, mushroom. 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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