Name: Pork Cutlets, Plain Broiled, with Gravy, Etc.
Ingredients: Pork cutlets (from neck or loin); Pepper; Coarse sea salt; Gravy or sauce of choice (sage and onion, shallot, onion, fine herbs, Piquante Gherkin, Tomato, Poivrade, Poor-man’s, Richelieu, Gasconne)

Why it works: Pork and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 22,121 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Pork Cutlets, Plain Broiled, with Gravy, Etc.

Ingredients

Pork cutlets (from neck or loin)
Pepper
Coarse sea salt
Gravy or sauce of choice (sage and onion, shallot, onion, fine herbs, Piquante Gherkin, Tomato, Poivrade, Poor-man’s, Richelieu, Gasconne)

Directions

Prepare

Trim the pork cutlets, leaving the skin on and scoring it in six places.
Season the cutlets with pepper and coarse sea salt.

Cook and serve

Broil the cutlets over a clear fire until thoroughly cooked, avoiding scorching.
Serve with your choice of gravy or sauce.

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.

Pork + peppertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together22,121 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pork + saucetop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,666 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Pepper + saucetop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together15,303 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Pepper and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,303 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Pork cutlets: Provide the main protein, which cooks through under the direct heat of the broiler.
Gravy or sauce: Adds moisture and rich flavour to the lean, broiled meat.

The step that matters

Broil until thoroughly cooked, avoiding scorching. Pork must reach a fully cooked interior, but direct high heat can char the surface quickly. Keeping the cutlets over a clear, steady fire lets the centre cook through before the outside burns.

“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.

Pork Cake107 recipes

Roast Pork82 recipes

Tomato Soup526 recipes

Brown Bread461 recipes

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.

Pork Cutlets, Plain Broiled, with Gravy, Etc.