Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Fricasseed Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the beef
Cook the beef in just enough water until the water evaporates completely.
When the beef is about half done, season it with salt and pepper.
Drain the water off the beef.
Let the beef fry for 15 minutes.
Make the sauce and serve
Mix the flour with the fat from the beef.
Pour the hot juice from the meat into the mixture.
Serve the fricassee beef with apple sauce.
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.
-
Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Flour + saucetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,078 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Pepper + appletop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,026 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Beef + appletop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,364 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
- Beef
- Provides the main body of the dish, becoming tender as it cooks slowly in water.
- Flour
- Mixed with beef fat and juice to thicken the sauce.
- Fat from the cooked beef
- Carries flavour and helps the flour form a smooth, rich sauce.
The step that matters
Let the water evaporate completely before frying. If water is still present when the beef fries, the meat steams instead of browning. Letting the water cook off first lets the surface brown, which adds flavour.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper, flour, sauce):
- Limefits better
- Avocadofits better
- Raisinfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, flour, sauce. 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.
You might also like
Roast Beef211 recipes
Beef Loaf175 recipes
Corned Beef87 recipes
Beef Broth67 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.