Why it works: Pork and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 22,121 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Roast of Pork
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash the roast carefully and score the skin crosswise.
Season the roast with coarse sea salt and black pepper.
Place a small amount of water in the pan.
Roast
Roast the pork, basting frequently with the pan juices to keep it moist.
Cook for at least 20 minutes per pound.
Make the gravy and serve
Once cooked, remove the roast and skim off excess fat from the gravy.
Add a little flour to the gravy, stir smoothly, and boil for a moment.
Season the gravy with salt and pepper, then serve immediately.
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.
-
Pork + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,121 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Pork + flourtop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,187 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Pork and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,187 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pork roast
- Forms the main body of the dish and supplies the meat that is cooked and served.
- Flour
- Thickens the pan juices into a smoother gravy as it is stirred and boiled.
The step that matters
Basting the roast with pan juices. Spooning juices over the meat during roasting adds moisture to the surface and helps keep the lean meat from drying out.
“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.
More roast pork recipes
You might also like
Pork Cake107 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.