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 ↓
Beef Olives
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the filling
Cut the beef into thin slices, remove all fat, and chop the fat finely.
Mix cracker crumbs, chopped fat, ½ teaspoon salt, ⅙ teaspoon pepper, herbs, and cold water.
Cut beef slices into pieces about 4 inches long and 3 inches wide.
Season with remaining salt and pepper.
Spread the cracker mixture on the beef strips and roll them up.
Tie with soft cotton and roll in flour.
Brown and simmer
Slice the salt pork and fry until crisp and brown.
Remove pork and fry the olives in the remaining fat until brown.
Transfer olives to a small stewpan.
In the frying pan, stir remaining flour until brown, then gradually add 1 pint cold water.
Stir until boiling, then pour over the olives.
Cover and simmer for 2 hours.
Serve
Remove strings from olives and arrange on a warm platter.
Strain gravy to remove fat and pour over olives.
Serve plain or with boiled rice, mashed potatoes, or strips of toast.
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.
-
Thyme + summer savorytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together214 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Beef + porktop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,690 recipes
Shared aroma: 12-methyltridecanal (tallowy, beefy).
-
Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,585 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Flour + summer savorytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together263 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Pepper + summer savorytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together671 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Round beef
- Forms the wrapped outer layer that becomes tender during slow simmering.
- Cracker crumbs
- Absorb moisture and bind the herbs and fat into a soft, cohesive filling.
- Salt pork
- Its rendered fat adds richness and flavor to the browning and the gravy.
- Flour
- Browned in the pan fat and thickens the liquid into a gravy.
The step that matters
Browning the flour for the gravy. Stirring the flour in the fat until brown builds color and flavor, and adding cold water gradually keeps the gravy smooth instead of lumpy.
Swap the thyme
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper, flour, pork, summer savory):
- Marjoramfits about as well
- Thymethe original
- Sagefits about as well
- Parsleyfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, flour, pork, summer savory. 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
Pork Cake107 recipes
Corned Beef87 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.