Name: Spare Rib of Pork
Ingredients: spare ribs; coarse sea salt; sage; gravy; apple sauce

Why it works: Sage and apple work together. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 755 recipes. Both carry 2-hexenal, which smells green, leafy. The science ↓

Spare Rib of Pork

Ingredients

Directions

Skewer the spare ribs crossways and tie them to a spit.
Roast them over a hot fire, basting often and sprinkling with salt.
Once done, place them on a dish and sprinkle with finely chopped sage.
Serve with gravy on the side and apple sauce in a boat.

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.

Sage + appletop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together755 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
Sage + saucetop 29% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together444 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Apple + saucetop 31% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together965 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).