Why it works: Pork and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,933 recipes. Both carry 2-furfurylthiol, which smells coffee, roasted. The science ↓
A Shoulder of Pork
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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Score the skin of the pork in strips about ½ inch apart.
Remove the bone and fill the pork with dressing as for a roasted pig.
Rub the entire surface with sweet oil or butter to prevent blistering.
Roast
Turn the pork and baste it frequently.
Keep the pork at a safe distance from the fire to avoid burning.
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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Pork + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,933 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Shoulder of pork
- Provides the main meat, which becomes tender and juicy during slow roasting.
- Sweet oil or butter
- Coats the surface to help prevent blistering and encourage even browning.
- Dressing for roasted pig
- Fills the boned cavity, adding flavor and moisture to the meat as it cooks.
The step that matters
Keep the pork at a safe distance from the fire. Direct, intense heat can scorch the outside before the inside cooks through. Steady, moderate heat with regular basting lets the surface brown evenly while the interior becomes tender.
“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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