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Collared Pig

A whole pig stuffed with forcemeat, ham, pickled cucumbers, bacon, fowl, and spices, then stewed and pressed.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Ham and meat are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,095 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Collared Pig

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the pig

  1. Prepare the pig by boning it.

  2. Season the inside with beaten spices.

Stuff and roll

  1. Layer the forcemeat, ham, pickled cucumbers, bacon, and fowl alternately inside the pig.

  2. Roll the pig up tightly and wrap it in a cloth, tying each end and sewing the middle.

Stew and press

  1. Place it in a stewpan and cover with broth, then stew for 2.5 hours.

  2. Remove from the broth, tighten the ties, and place between two boards with a weight to press it.

Finish and serve

  1. Once cold, remove from the cloth, trim, and serve whole or sliced with chopped savory jelly around.

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.

  1. Ham + meattop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,095 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  2. Ham + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,526 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Meat + eggtop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,432 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Cucumber + eggtop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,346 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Cucumber + meattop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together323 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Boned pig
Forms the outer shell that holds the stuffing together while it cooks.
Light forcemeat
Provides a tender, delicate filling that stays moist during stewing.
Fat bacon
Adds fat that keeps the lean filling moist and flavorful.
White meat of fowls
Contributes mild, tender meat that sets firmly when cold and sliced.
Omelet made from egg whites and yolks
Adds structure and binding to the filling as the egg sets.

The step that matters

Tighten the ties and press while the pig is still warm. Pressing under a weight as it cools compacts the layers so they hold together when sliced. Loose ties or uneven weight can let the roll open or the filling separate.

Swap the cucumber

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, meat, egg):

  1. Asparagusfits better
  2. Mustardfits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Cucumberthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, meat, egg. 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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