Why it works: Clove and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓
Pork, Hashed
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Chop the onions and fry them until golden brown.
Cut the pork into thin slices and season with pepper and coarse sea salt.
Stew and serve
Add the pork to the onions and remaining ingredients.
Stew gently for about 30 minutes.
Garnish with toasted bread slices.
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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Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Mace + clovetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,400 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
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Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,214 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).
-
Onion + clovetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,901 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Onions
- Fried until golden brown, they add sweetness and savoury depth to the hash.
- Flour
- Thickens the gravy as the hash stews, giving it a body that clings to the meat.
- Gravy
- Supplies liquid that keeps the pork moist while it stews.
- Vinegar
- Adds a sharp acidity that brightens the rich pork and gravy.
- Pork
- Cold roast pork is the main body of the hash, reheated gently in the sauce.
The step that matters
Stew gently for about 30 minutes. Gentle heat keeps the cooked pork tender and moist. Vigorous boiling toughens the meat and can break up the thickened gravy.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, onion, flour, clove, vinegar, pepper):
- Allspicefits better
- Thymefits better
- Garlicfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, onion, flour, clove, vinegar, 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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