Why it works: Sage and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,388 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Duck Stuffing
Ingredients
Directions
Blanch the onions in boiling water for 5 minutes to reduce their acrid flavor.
Drain the onions and boil them in fresh water until tender.
Scald the sage leaves in boiling water for 5 minutes, then dry them.
Once the onions are tender, drain and mince them finely with the sage leaves.
Mix in the bread crumbs, spiced pepper, and salt.
Add the diced beef suet and bind the mixture with the eggs.
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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Sage + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,388 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Onion + beeftop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + sagetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,628 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the sage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, bread, beef, egg, pepper):
- Parsleyfits better
- Garlicfits better
- Thymefits better
- Sagethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against onion, bread, beef, egg, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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