Why it works: Sage and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 887 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Roast Pork
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Score the skin of the pork in squares or parallel lines, cutting just through to the flesh.
Place the pork in a roaster and pour boiling water over it.
Roast
Heat gradually until the fat begins to run, then increase the heat.
Baste often to keep the skin tender while crisping.
Roast for at least 20 minutes per pound.
Before roasting, rub the scored skin with the force-meat mixture, filling the cracks well.
Serve
Serve with apple sauce, chili sauce, or catsup.
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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Sage + lemontop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together887 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Sage + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,388 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Sage + appletop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together755 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-hexenal (green, leafy).
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Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,214 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pork
- Its fat renders during roasting, moistening the meat and helping the scored skin crisp.
The step that matters
Heat gradually until the fat runs. Starting low lets fat under the skin melt slowly, so the meat stays moist. Raising the heat only after the fat has run helps the skin crisp without scorching or drying the meat.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, meat, sage, onion, pepper, lemon):
- Limefits better
- Avocadofits better
- Orangefits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, meat, sage, onion, pepper, lemon. 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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