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 ↓
Baked Pigs Head
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.
Prepare
Divide and thoroughly clean the pig's head; remove the brains, snout, and ears.
Bake and make the topping
Bake the head at 350°F (175°C) for 1.5 hours until cooked through.
Blanch the snout and ears, then beat them with the egg, pepper, salt, sage, and butter.
Brown the mixture before the fire.
Serve
Serve with the baked head.
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 + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,312 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Egg + sagetop 32% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,100 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg
- Binds the beaten snout and ear mixture so it holds together when browned.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, helping the mixture brown and stay moist.
The step that matters
Brown the mixture before the fire. Browning depends on surface heat and close watching. Too little heat leaves the mixture pale and wet, while too much dries or scorches it before it sets and colours evenly.
Swap the sage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, pepper, butter):
- Parsleyfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Sagethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, pepper, 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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