Why it works: Parsley and sage match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,445 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Another Way to Make Black Puddings
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mixture
Prepare the blood as directed.
Boil the rice in milk until tender.
Combine the rice, grated bread, and seasonings in a bowl.
Add the minced herbs, suet, pig fat, and beaten eggs to the mixture. Mix all ingredients thoroughly.
Stir in the blood.
Shape and cook
Divide the mixture into three puddings.
Wrap each pudding in floured pudding cloths.
Boil the puddings until cooked through.
Heat and serve
Heat the puddings whole in a Dutch oven.
Slice and broil the puddings on a gridiron.
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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Parsley + sagetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,445 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Pepper + sagetop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,388 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Clove + sagetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together731 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Blood
- Sets when heated, giving the pudding its dense, firm body and dark colour.
- Rice
- Absorbs liquid and adds bulk, giving the filling a soft, tender texture.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set on heating, holding the pudding together when sliced.
- Beef suet
- Adds fat that melts during cooking, keeping the pudding moist and rich.
- Bread
- Absorbs moisture and adds body, helping the filling hold its shape.
The step that matters
Boil the puddings until cooked through. Blood and eggs must be fully set for the pudding to hold together when sliced. Undercooked filling stays loose and can crumble or taste raw inside.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rice, milk, bread, pepper, clove, parsley, sage):
- Marjoramfits better
- Thymefits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against rice, milk, bread, pepper, clove, parsley, sage. 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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