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 ↓
Pork Pies
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the dough
Boil the milk and lard (or suet).
Sift the flour into a bowl.
Add the boiling milk and lard, mixing into a smooth dough.
When cool, knead the dough until streaks disappear.
Mold the dough into a basin shape, reserving enough for the lid and decorations.
Fill and seal
Season the pork well, then fill the seasoned pork into the dough.
Pour in the stock halfway.
Seal the lid on.
Decorate the sides with a cubed edge.
Top with leaves and a tassel made from dough.
Bake and finish
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 2 hours.
Remove the tassel, then carefully pour in the thickened stock.
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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Pork + sagetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,527 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Pork + milktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,386 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Flour + sagetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,115 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the dough that holds the pie's shape.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderises the dough and gives it a rich, short texture.
- Pork
- Forms the main filling and provides savoury flavour and moisture.
- Gelatine
- Helps the stock set into a firm jelly as it cools.
- White stock
- Adds moisture and savouriness to the filling and sets with the gelatine.
The step that matters
Add the boiling milk and lard to the flour. The liquid must be boiling so the hot water starch gelatinises and the dough becomes pliable and binds. If the dough cools too much before it is shaped, it becomes stiff and prone to cracking.
Swap the sage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, pork, milk, pepper):
- Marjoramfits about as well
- Jalapenofits about as well
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Sagethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, pork, milk, pepper. 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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