Name: Dried Beef, with Peppers
Ingredients: 2 lbs jerked dried beef; 2 oz dripping; 1 onion, chopped; 4 red peppers; browned flour, for thickening

Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Dried Beef, with Peppers

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the beef

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Place the beef in a pan and heat in the oven for 10 minutes.
Shred the beef.

Cook the filling

Transfer shredded beef to a frying pan with the dripping and onion.
Fry for 5 minutes until the onion is soft.
Pour boiling water over the peppers and pass the peppers through a sieve.
Mix the peppers with the beef.
Thicken the mixture with browned flour.
Season to taste.
Cook for 20 minutes.
Serve piping hot.

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.

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 + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,971 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + flourtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together32,460 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together50,459 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Jerked dried beef: Provides the main meaty body and savoury flavour of the dish.
Dripping: Adds fat for frying, carrying flavour and helping the onion soften.
Red peppers: Contribute sweetness, colour and soft texture once sieved into the mixture.
Browned flour: Thickens the mixture and adds a toasted, nutty flavour.