Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓
Savory Beef Tea
Ingredients
Directions
Make the broth
Combine the beef, leeks, onion, carrot, celery seed, herbs, salt, mushroom ketchup, and water in a large pot.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 1-2 hours.
Strain the mixture through a fine sieve to obtain the broth.
Serve
Serve warm or cold.
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 + marjoramtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,225 recipes
Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).
-
Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,173 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
-
Carrot + marjoramtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together687 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
-
Leek + thymetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together360 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
-
Clove + marjoramtop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,075 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lean beef
- Provides the main flavour and body of the broth as it simmers.
- Mushroom ketchup
- Adds savoury, umami depth to the broth.
- Leeks
- Contribute mild sweetness and aromatic flavour to the broth.
The step that matters
Simmer gently after the boil. Once the mixture boils, reducing the heat to a gentle simmer keeps the broth clear and prevents the beef from turning tough and cloudy.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, leek, clove, carrot, celery, thyme, marjoram):
- Turnipfits better
- Parsnipfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, leek, clove, carrot, celery, thyme, marjoram. 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.
More beef tea recipes
You might also like
Roast Beef211 recipes
Beef Loaf175 recipes
Carrot Soup134 recipes
Cream of Celery Soup113 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.