Why it works: Pepper and sage 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 ↓
Pork Tenderloins
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the meat
Leave the tender loins attached when cutting up the hog.
Cut through the ribs on each side near the loin and across at each end.
Rub the tenderloins with coarse sea salt, black pepper, and sage.
Cook and serve
Roast the tenderloins like ribs.
Cut into thin slices and broil or fry.
Serve with apple sauce.
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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Pepper + sagetop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,388 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Sage + appletop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together755 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Pork + sagetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,527 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Pork + appletop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,581 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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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 tenderloins
- Provide the main lean meat that is roasted, sliced, and served.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the meat and helps draw out moisture for a more flavorful surface.
- Sage
- Adds an aromatic, savory herbal flavor to the pork.
- Apple sauce
- Adds sweetness and acidity that balances the rich pork.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, pepper, sage, sauce):
- Lemonfits better
- Limefits better
- Avocadofits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, pepper, sage, sauce. 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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