Why it works: Sauce and ketchup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,099 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Steak a LA Waldorf
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Trim excess fat from the steak and place it in a baking pan.
Season the steak with coarse sea salt and black pepper.
Top and bake
Top the steak with sliced onion and green pepper.
Pour chili sauce and ketchup over the steak, then add flakes of butter.
Bake in the oven for 35 to 50 minutes, depending on the thickness of the steak, basting frequently.
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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Sauce + ketchuptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,099 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Sauce + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Onion + saucetop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,474 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sauce and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 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
- Club steak
- Provides the main protein, which becomes tender and juicy as it cooks in the sauce.
- Onion
- Adds sweetness and aroma as it softens and caramelizes in the oven.
- Green pepper
- Adds a fresh, slightly bitter vegetable flavor and softens during baking.
- Chili sauce
- Adds acidity, sweetness and heat, and its sugars help the sauce brown.
- Ketchup
- Adds sweetness, acidity and body, thickening the sauce as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, helping the sauce coat the steak and aiding browning.
The step that matters
Basting during the bake. Basting frequently keeps the surface of the steak moist and spreads the sauce evenly. Because the bake time varies with thickness, checking the steak as it cooks helps prevent it from drying out or overcooking.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, sauce, ketchup, butter):
- Capsicumfits better
- Horseradishfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, sauce, ketchup, 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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