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 ↓
Kidneys, Stewed
Ingredients
Directions
Remove the gills from the kidneys and place them in a pot with plain stock or gravy.
Add canned tomato juice and cook until nearly done.
Thicken with brown roux and season with coarse sea salt, black pepper, and a little mustard.
If desired, add chopped onion or shallot and some chopped sage or parsley.
Serve hot on a dish, with or without maitre d’hotel 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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Mustard + oniontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,259 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mustard + sagetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together372 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the onion
The recipe marks onion as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, pepper, mustard, sage):
- Capsicumfits better
- Lettucefits better
- Broccolifits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, pepper, mustard, sage. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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