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 ↓
To Roast a Sucking Pig
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pig
Scald and prepare the pig, then dry it thoroughly.
Stuff the body with bread crumbs, sage, butter, salt, and pepper or cayenne.
Sew the stuffed pig up with strong cotton.
Truss the pig with forelegs skewered back and hind legs forward.
Roast
Roast over a strong clear fire, keeping it at a moderate distance to avoid scorching.
Rub the pig with butter using a cloth, repeating this process constantly while roasting.
Place basins under the pig to catch the dripping gravy.
When the pig is a light amber brown and steam draws towards the fire, wipe it dry.
Rub the pig with cold butter.
Hang a pig iron or large flat iron in the center of the grate to ensure even cooking.
Make the gravy and serve
When ready, place the pig in a very hot dish.
Remove the spit.
Open the head.
Split the body in two.
Chop the stuffing and liver together.
Mix the chopped stuffing and liver with ½ pint of thickened veal gravy.
Add a glass of Madeira or sherry.
Pour some gravy under the roast.
Serve the rest hot in a tureen.
Optionally add pounded mace, cayenne, and lemon juice.
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).
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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Bread + sagetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,778 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sage + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,312 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
- Fine bread crumbs
- Absorb juices and butter in the stuffing, keeping it moist and giving it body.
- Butter
- Adds fat that bastes the skin, promoting browning and a rich flavor.
- Sage
- Contributes aromatic herbal flavor that perfumes the meat as it cooks.
- Liver (in the method)
- Adds rich, savory depth to the stuffing and the gravy.
The step that matters
Roast over a strong clear fire at a moderate distance. Too close a fire scorches the skin before the interior cooks, while constant basting with butter keeps the surface moist and promotes even amber browning.
Swap the sage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, butter, pepper):
- Parsleyfits about as well
- Sagethe original
- Thymefits about as well
- Nutmegfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, butter, 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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