Why it works: Sage and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,445 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Roast Pig
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the pig
Select a young pig and ensure it is well scalded.
Stuff the body with seasoned bread crumbs, onions, and sliced potatoes.
Moisten the stuffing with warm water and butter, then sew the pig up.
Skewer the fore legs forward and the hind legs backward.
Rub the pig with butter and dredge it with flour.
Roast and baste
Place the pig in a pan with a little water.
Start baking in a moderate oven (350°F / 175°C).
Baste often with melted butter and water, baking for nearly three hours.
Garnish, carve and serve
Garnish with parsley or celery leaves, a tuft of cauliflower in the mouth, and a wreath of parsley around the neck.
Serve with apple sauce.
To carve, cut off the head, then the ham and shoulders, split down the back, and separate the ribs.
Turn off some fat from the gravy, thicken the rest with flour, add sherry wine and lemon juice, and serve in a gravy boat.
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 + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,445 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Pepper + sagetop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,388 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Young pig
- Forms the whole roast, so its tender flesh cooks through during the long bake.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, and helps the skin brown as it bastes.
- Flour
- Dredged on the skin and later used to thicken the gravy.
- Bread crumbs
- Absorb the moisture and juices of the stuffing, keeping the filling soft.
- Onions
- Add sweetness and aroma as they cook inside the stuffing.
- Sherry wine
- Adds acidity and depth of flavour to the finished gravy.
The step that matters
Basting with butter and water. Basting during the long bake keeps the surface moist and helps it brown evenly, so the skin does not dry out or scorch before the meat is cooked through.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, pepper, sage, potato, butter, flour, parsley):
- Shallotfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Chivefits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, pepper, sage, potato, butter, flour, parsley. 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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