Why it works: Pork and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,668 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓
Roast Pork
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very hot oven”. The 400°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Wash the pork loin and rub it thoroughly with coarse sea salt and black pepper.
Place the pork in a baking pan with 1 pint of boiling water.
Roast
Put the pan in a very hot oven (400°F / 200°C).
Allow the roast to gradually cool to a moderate heat (350°F / 175°C).
Baste the pork often while baking for 2.5 hours.
Peel the potatoes.
Lay the potatoes around the roast about 1 hour before serving.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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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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Pork + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,121 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pork loin
- Forms the main body of the roast, cooking to tender, juicy meat when roasted slowly.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the meat and helps the surface stay flavourful through the roasting time.
- Potatoes
- Serving side that absorbs drippings from the roasting pan and browns around the roast.
The step that matters
Basting the pork during baking. Regular basting keeps the surface moist and helps it brown, so the outside does not dry out before the centre is cooked through over the long roasting time.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatothe original
- Tomatofits less well
- Carrotfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, 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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