Why it works: Pork and apple are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,581 recipes. Both carry 4-heptenal, which smells creamy, biscuit. The science ↓
Roast Pork
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.
Prepare
If the skin is left on, score it in 1-inch squares, cutting only through the skin.
Place the pork on a rack in a roasting pan and dredge lightly with flour.
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Roast
Reduce the heat and cook more slowly.
Cook for 30 minutes per pound.
Season when half-cooked.
Baste frequently with the fat in the pan.
Serve
Serve with Brown Gravy and 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 + appletop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,581 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Flour + saucetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,078 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + appletop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,140 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pork + saucetop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,666 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Pork + flourtop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,187 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Pork and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,187 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
- Pork
- The main cut, which slow roasting cooks through to make it tender and juicy.
- Flour
- A light dusting helps the surface brown and develop a crisper outer layer.
- Fat
- Basting coats the surface, adding moisture and richer browning as it cooks.
The step that matters
Reduce the heat and cook more slowly.. Lowering the heat after preheating keeps the outside from drying and over-browning before the centre of the meat cooks through. Cooking too hot causes the surface to toughen while the interior is still underdone.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, flour, sauce):
- Raisinfits better
- Avocadofits better
- Coconutfits about as well
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, flour, sauce. 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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