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 Pig
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Stuff the pig with dry bread crumbs, sage, salt, and pepper, then sew it up.
Skewer the legs back to ensure crispiness.
Roast
Dredge the pig with flour and baste with melted butter.
Roast in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) until cooked through.
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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sage + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,115 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Bread + sagetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,778 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Dry bread crumbs
- Absorb juices and fat inside the pig, keeping the stuffing moist and tender.
- Flour
- Dusting on the skin helps it brown and crisp in the oven.
- Melted butter
- Fat for basting that promotes browning and a golden, crisp skin.
- Dried sage
- Adds aromatic, earthy flavor to the stuffing.
The step that matters
Skewer the legs back. Pulling the legs back tightly keeps the body compact so heat reaches the thick areas evenly. Loose legs can cook unevenly and leave the skin less crisp.
Swap the sage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, pepper, flour, butter):
- Parsleyfits about as well
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Sagethe original
- Marjoramfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, pepper, flour, butter. 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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