Why it works: Sage and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,485 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Sausagl-meat Cake, Or, Pain De Porc Frais
Ingredients
Directions
Season the sausage meat with spices and sage, or thyme and parsley if preferred.
Press the mixture into a pan.
Follow the preparation method for veal-cake as described in Chapter XI.
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 + thymetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,485 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,057 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Sage + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,445 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Meat + thymetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,008 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Meat + parsleytop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,040 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the thyme
The recipe marks thyme as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, sage, parsley):
- Thymethe original
- Marjoramfits about as well
- Rosemaryfits less well
- Oreganofits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against meat, sage, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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