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Hogs Puddings

A savory pudding made by stuffing boiled hog skins with a mixture of almonds, bread, suet, currants, spices, cream, eggs, and citrus.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Hogs Puddings

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak and clean the hog skins overnight in rose water.

Make and fill

  1. In a bowl, mix the chopped almonds, grated bread, marrow or suet, currants, spices, cream, egg yolks, egg whites, orange flower water, sugar, lemon zest, and sliced citron.

  2. Half fill the prepared skins with the mixture.

Cook

  1. Boil the filled skins as directed.

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. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Almond + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,514 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Almond + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,115 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Yolks and whites bind the mixture and help it set as it cooks.
Grated bread
Soaks up the cream and adds body to the filling.
Marrow or suet
Adds richness and fat, keeping the filling moist and tender.
Cream
Adds richness and moisture, softening the bread and making the filling smooth.
Currants
Add sweetness and chewy texture to the filling.

The step that matters

Boil the filled skins as directed. The skins are only half filled because the filling expands and the casing can burst. The egg proteins set as they heat, so the filling firms rather than dissolving. Keep the boil gentle to avoid splitting the casing.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, bread, cinnamon, clove, mace, nutmeg, cream):

  1. Figfits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Raisinfits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against almond, bread, cinnamon, clove, mace, nutmeg, cream. 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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