Why it works: Sage and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 507 recipes. Both carry 2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓
Sausages, to Make
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the meat
Chop the pork, veal, and suet finely together.
Add the breadcrumbs, minced lemon rind, and a grating of nutmeg.
Wash and chop the sage leaves very finely.
Add these with the remaining ingredients to the meat and mix thoroughly.
Shape and cook
Either stuff into sausage skins or form into small cakes.
Flour the cakes.
Fry them until golden brown.
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 + marjoramtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together507 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Lemon + marjoramtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together957 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Nutmeg + marjoramtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together687 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Pork + beeftop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,690 recipes
Shared aroma: 12-methyltridecanal (tallowy, beefy).
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Lemon + sagetop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together887 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pork
- Provides fat and lean meat that gives the sausage its body and juiciness.
- Veal
- Adds lean meat for a tender, delicate texture.
- Beef suet
- Adds fat that keeps the mixture moist and rich during frying.
- Breadcrumbs
- Absorb juices and bind the meat, giving a softer, less crumbly texture.
The step that matters
Fry them until golden brown. Frying over steady heat browns the flour coating through the Maillard reaction, giving flavour and colour. Too little heat leaves the cakes pale and soggy, while too much heat can burn the outside before the centre cooks through.
“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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