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Roasted Pig

A whole pig roasted with oil, liver sauce, and optional dried currant sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Sage and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,485 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Roasted Pig

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the pig

  1. Scald the pig in boiling water.

  2. Scrape and clean the pig thoroughly.

  3. Singe the pig.

  4. Place the pig on a spit.

Roast

  1. Baste the pig with oil while roasting until it is a nice brown.

  2. Split the pig in half when it is done.

Make the sauce and serve

  1. Prepare the sauce by mixing the chopped liver, sage, shallot, thyme, parsley, cream, pepper, salt, butter, flour, and stock in a bowl.

  2. Garnish with the feet cut in two.

  3. Serve with clear gravy in a sauce boat.

  4. Serve the optional sauce made with dried currants.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Sage + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,485 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Shallot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,737 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Shallot + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,476 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Sage + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,445 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Pig
Forms the main meat that is roasted, browned and carved for serving.
Liver
Adds richness and a deep, savory flavor to the sauce.
Cream
Adds richness and smooth body to the sauce.
Flour
Thickens the sauce by binding with the butter and liquids.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, helping the sauce feel smooth.

The step that matters

Baste the pig with oil while roasting. Oil applied during roasting helps the skin brown evenly and stay from drying out, while the flesh cooks through gently. Basting too little can leave pale, dry patches.

Swap the shallot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (liver, sage, thyme, parsley, cream, pepper, butter):

  1. Carrotfits about as well
  2. Shallotthe original
  3. Parsnipfits about as well
  4. Potatofits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against liver, sage, thyme, parsley, cream, 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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