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 ↓
Raised Pork Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Season the meat with pepper, coarse sea salt, and sage.
Fill the pie crust with the seasoned meat.
If using, add a little stiff jelly on top of the meat.
Close the pie securely and brush the top with beaten egg.
Bake for two hours, covering with buttered paper to prevent burning.
Once done, you may add a little gravy and prepared mustard, ensuring the gravy will jelly.
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 + mustardtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together372 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Pepper + mustardtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,430 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Meat + mustardtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together855 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Meat + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,594 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the mustard
The recipe marks mustard as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, pepper, sage, egg, butter):
- Capsicumfits better
- Shallotfits about as well
- Potatofits about as well
- Mustardthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against meat, pepper, sage, egg, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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