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 ↓
Roast Loin of Pork
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Trim and score the loin of pork, separating the bones with a small chopper or meat saw.
Make an incision in the upper part of the loin for stuffing, sew it up with twine, and skewer it lengthwise.
Roast and stuff
Roast the pork over a fire for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
While the pork roasts, boil the chopped sage and onions in water for 3 minutes, then drain.
In a pan, combine the drained sage and onions with pepper, salt, and butter, and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
Serve
Once the pork is done, dish it up, pour brown gravy underneath, and garnish with fried small potatoes.
Serve with apple sauce.
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).
-
Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Pork + potatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,668 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Pepper + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Sage + appletop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together755 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Loin of pork
- Forms the main meat, which is roasted until cooked through and tender.
- Onions
- Add sweetness and moisture to the stuffing as they soften when simmered.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness to the onion and sage mixture.
- Sage leaves
- Contribute an aromatic, herbal flavour to the stuffing.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, sage, onion, pepper, butter, potato, sauce):
- Lemonfits better
- Avocadofits better
- Limefits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, sage, onion, pepper, butter, potato, sauce. 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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