Why it works: Pepper and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 85,593 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Broiled Sirloin Steak
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare
Preheat the broiler.
Season the sirloin steak with salt and pepper.
Broil and serve
Place the steak under the broiler for 4-5 minutes on each side for medium-rare.
Remove from the broiler and let it rest for a few minutes.
Serve with a pat of butter on top.
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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Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sirloin steak
- Forms the main body of the dish and carries the flavour when seared under high heat.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth, savoury finish when placed on the hot steak.
The step that matters
Resting the steak after broiling. Juices spread back through the meat while it rests, so slicing too early lets them run out and leaves the steak drier.
“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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