Why it works: Thyme and summer savory match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 214 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Cannelon De Boeuf
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, combine the chopped beef, ham, stock, beaten egg, salt, pepper, thyme, summer savory, and lemon rind. Mix well and form the mixture into a long roll.
Bake and serve
Wrap the roll in buttered paper and place it in the oven.
Bake for 45 minutes.
Prepare a brown gravy seasoned with ketchup to pour over the dish.
Garnish with small force-meat balls and the yolks of hard-boiled eggs.
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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Thyme + summer savorytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together214 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Thyme + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,973 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,585 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Summer savory + lemontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together115 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Roast beef
- Forms the main body of the roll and provides the meaty texture.
- Boiled ham
- Adds savoury flavour and extra meaty texture to the filling.
- Beaten egg
- Binds the chopped meats so the mixture holds its roll shape.
- Stock
- Adds moisture so the filling stays tender rather than dry during baking.
The step that matters
Forming the long roll. The mixture is loose and wet, so it must be packed firmly and evenly. Tight wrapping in buttered paper helps it hold its shape and cook through without drying at the edges.
“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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