Why it works: Sage and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 642 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
A Sucking Pig
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the stuffing
Season the grated bread with sage, pepper, salt, and nutmeg.
Sew the mixture into the pig's belly.
Roast
Prepare a clear brisk fire for roasting.
Rub the pig all over with fresh butter or salad oil.
Dredge the pig with flour and continue basting with butter or oil.
Roast for 1.5 to 2 hours, depending on size.
Once done, rub off any excess flour with a clean cloth.
Carve and serve
On a hot dish, cut off the head and split it open.
Remove the thread used to sew the belly.
Cut the body down the middle of the back bone.
Beat the brains, pudding, and gravy with the beef or veal gravy.
Pour part of the gravy into the serving dish and the rest into a sauce tureen.
If desired, add dried currants to the sauce.
Arrange the pig back to back on the dish with a half head at each end and an ear on each side.
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 + nutmegtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together642 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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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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Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Grated bread
- Absorbs the seasonings and forms a moist, tender stuffing inside the pig.
- Fresh butter or salad oil
- Fat that coats the skin, promoting even browning and keeping the surface moist while roasting.
- Flour
- Dusted on the skin, it helps form a crisp, browned crust during roasting.
- Beef or veal gravy
- Adds savory moisture and body to the sauce served with the pig.
The step that matters
Roast for 1.5 to 2 hours, depending on size. Too little time leaves the meat underdone, while overcooking dries it out. Checking the thickest part and basting with fat helps the meat cook through while staying moist.
Swap the currant
The recipe marks currant as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, sage, pepper, nutmeg, butter, flour, beef):
- Lemonfits better
- Limefits better
- Figfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, sage, pepper, nutmeg, butter, flour, beef. 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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