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A roast pig prepared with a fat and butter mixture, seasoned with salt, pepper, and gravy, and cooked over a clear fire.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and sherry are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,505 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Modern Cookery

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak the inner fat of pig in cold water for 2-3 hours.

  2. Dry the inner fat of pig.

  3. Mix the fine salt with water to create brine.

  4. Mince the fat very small.

  5. Combine the minced fat with butter, coarse sea salt, and pepper.

  6. Sew the mixture into the fat.

Roast

  1. Truss the pig like a hare.

  2. Roast the pig over a clear fire.

  3. Keep the pig at a moderate distance to avoid scorching.

  4. Rub the pig with butter tied in muslin while roasting.

  5. Place basins under the pig to catch the dripping gravy.

  6. Dry the pig with a cloth.

  7. Rub the pig with cold butter.

  8. Hang a large flat iron in the center of the grate to ensure even cooking.

Finish and serve

  1. Place the pig on a hot dish.

  2. Open the head of the pig.

  3. Split the body in two.

  4. Chop the stuffing and brains together.

  5. Mix the chopped stuffing and brains with veal gravy and Madeira.

  6. Pour some of the mixture under the meat.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Butter + sherrytop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,505 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Pepper + sherrytop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,107 recipes

    Shared aroma: piperonal (bitter, coconut).

  3. Pepper + vealtop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,049 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Butter + vealtop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,381 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Inner fat of pig
Renders during roasting, keeping the meat moist and adding richness to the drippings.
Butter
Adds fat that bastes the surface, promoting browning and a rich flavour.
Veal gravy
Forms the base of the finishing sauce, adding savoury depth and moisture.
Madeira or sherry
Adds sweetness and aromatic acidity to the finishing sauce.

The step that matters

Keep the pig at a moderate distance from the fire. Too close a fire scorches the outside before the interior cooks through, while steady moderate heat lets fat render and the meat cook evenly.

“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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