Why it works: Pork and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,214 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Roast Pork
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Score the skin of the pork in narrow strips, about ¼ inch apart.
Cut a slit in the knuckle, loosen the skin, and fill with sage and onion seasoning.
Brush the joint with a little salad oil to enhance crispness and color.
Roast and serve
Roast in a clear fire for 20 minutes per pound plus an additional 20 minutes.
Serve with gravy and a tureen of 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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,214 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pork + sagetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,527 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Sage + oniontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,628 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pork leg
- Forms the main body of the roast, providing the meat that is cooked and served.
- Salad oil
- Carries heat to the skin and promotes crisping and browning on the surface of the joint.
- Sage and onion seasoning
- Flavors the meat from inside as it cooks, adding aroma and savory taste.
The step that matters
Scoring the skin in narrow strips. Shallow, evenly spaced cuts let fat render and moisture escape from the skin, which helps it crisp rather than stay tough and rubbery.
Swap the sage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, onion):
- Garlicfits better
- Thymefits better
- Cuminfits about as well
- Sagethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, onion. 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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