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 ↓
Sucking-pig
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Mix the bread crumbs, onion, sage, raw egg, butter, pepper, and salt in a bowl.
Stuff the mixture into the belly of the pig and sew it up with needle and thread.
Roast
Roast the pig at a distance from the fire, basting with oil, dripping, or lard.
Roast for 1 hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours, adding an extra hour if the pig is older.
After roasting, cut off the head and leave the body in the dripping pan.
Divide the head longitudinally and remove the brains for the sauce.
Return the head to the dripping pan.
Make the sauce and serve
Chop the brains finely and mix with good plain stock or gravy from the dripping pan.
Serve the pig with the sauce and additional gravy.
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).
-
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Onion + sagetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,628 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sucking pig
- Is the main cut of meat, cooked whole so the skin crisps and the flesh stays moist.
- Bread crumbs
- Soak up juices and fat in the stuffing, keeping it moist and giving it body.
- Raw egg
- Binds the stuffing so it holds together while roasting.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness to the stuffing, improving flavour and moistness.
- Onion
- Adds savoury sweetness and aroma to the stuffing as it cooks in the pig.
- Sage
- Contributes a savoury, herbal aroma that complements the rich pork.
The step that matters
Roasting at a distance from the fire. Gentle, indirect heat cooks the pig through slowly, so the flesh becomes tender before the skin over-browns or burns. Basting with fat keeps the surface moist and helps it crisp evenly.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, sage, egg, butter, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Chivefits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, sage, egg, butter, pepper. 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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