Why it works: Sage and summer savory match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 237 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Country Pork Sausages
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the meat
Finely chop the lean pork and fat pork.
Mix the salt, pepper, sage, and summer savory into the meat with your hands.
Taste the mixture to ensure the flavor is right.
Stuff and store
Stuff the mixture into cleaned hog intestines or muslin bags.
Dip the sausages in melted lard and hang them in a cool, dry, dark place.
Alternatively, pack the meat in jars, pour melted lard over it, and cover.
Cook
To fry, heat a small amount of lard or butter in a frying pan.
Prick the sausages with a fork and lay them in the pan.
Move the sausages frequently to prevent bursting.
Cook the sausages for 10-12 minutes until browned.
For a smoke-free option, bake the sausages in a pan.
Turn the sausages occasionally while baking.
Bake for about 10 minutes at 400°F (200°C).
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 + summer savorytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together237 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Pepper + sagetop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,388 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Pepper + summer savorytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together671 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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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 + summer savorytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together239 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lean fresh pork
- Provides the lean meat that forms the body of the sausage.
- Chine fat
- Adds fat that keeps the sausage moist and juicy as it cooks.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the meat and helps draw out proteins that bind the filling.
- Sage
- Contributes the dominant aromatic flavour characteristic of country sausage.
- Summer savory
- Adds a peppery, herbal aroma that complements the sage.
The step that matters
Move the sausages frequently in the pan. Pricking and frequent turning let steam escape and fat render evenly, so the casings do not burst and the sausages brown rather than split or cook unevenly.
Swap the summer savory
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, pepper, sage, butter):
- Thymefits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Summer savorythe original
- Parsleyfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, pepper, sage, butter. 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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