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A LA Mode Beef

A stew of larded beef with pork, vegetables, and seasonings simmered slowly.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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A LA Mode Beef

Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓

A LA Mode Beef

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the pork and beef

  1. Scrape the pork and remove the rind.

  2. Cut the pork into strips about ½ inch thick and 4 inches long.

  3. Insert a larding needle half its length into the meat, load it with a strip of pork, and pass the needle through, leaving the pork in the meat. Repeat until the meat is larded as desired.

  4. If the meat is too thick, lard one side first, then the other.

  5. Lard the beef with the grain.

  6. If you don't have a larding needle, make incisions in the meat with a narrow knife and press the strips of pork into the incisions.

Simmer and serve

  1. In a pot large enough to hold the meat without bending, add 1 pint of stock or gravy, then layer the seasoning, cut-up vegetables, rind, and any leftover pork strips.

  2. Place the larded beef on top, pour the vinegar over it, and add enough cold water to just cover the meat.

  3. Cover and simmer slowly for 5 to 6 hours, turning the meat occasionally. Stir gently if the vegetables start to scorch. Replenish with boiling water if the water level gets low.

  4. When done, transfer the meat to a hot dish and arrange the vegetables around it.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

  1. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  2. Beef + porktop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,690 recipes

    Shared aroma: 12-methyltridecanal (tallowy, beefy).

  3. Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,076 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  4. Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Tomato + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,606 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

Round of beef
Forms the main body of the stew, becoming tender during long slow simmering.
Fat salt pork or bacon
Strips threaded through the meat add fat and richness that moisten the lean beef as it cooks.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and helps tenderize the meat during braising.
Onions
Break down during simmering, adding sweetness and body to the cooking liquid.
Stock or gravy
Provides the liquid base that carries flavor and keeps the meat moist as it braises.

The step that matters

Slow simmering with the lid on. Long, gentle simmering breaks down the tough connective tissue in the beef into gelatin, making it tender. A hard boil toughens the meat and can scorch the vegetables, so keep the heat low and check the water level.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, tomato, pork, carrot, onion, vinegar, garlic):

  1. Cuminfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Celeryfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, tomato, pork, carrot, onion, vinegar, garlic. 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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