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Jugged Gravy

A slow-cooked beef and ham gravy made in a jar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Jugged Gravy

Oven, in the book's wordsA cool oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Prepare

  1. Cut the beef and ham into small pieces and slice the vegetables.

  2. In a jar that holds 2 pints of water, layer the ham, meat, vegetables, and seasoning alternately.

  3. Fill the jar with water and cover it tightly to prevent steam from escaping.

Cook and finish

  1. Place the jar in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 6 to 8 hours, adjusting time if the oven is very hot.

  2. Once cooked, strain the gravy and let it cool to remove the fat.

  3. Optionally, flavor the gravy with ketchup, wine, or any preferred sauce.

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.

  1. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Pepper + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 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

Shin of beef
Provides meat flavor and body as it slowly breaks down in the liquid.
Lean ham
Adds savory, salty flavor to the stock as it cooks.
Onion or shallots
Contributes aromatic sweetness and depth to the gravy.
Carrot
Adds subtle sweetness and aromatic background flavor.
Celery
Adds aromatic, savory background flavor to the gravy.

The step that matters

Sealing the jar tightly. A tight cover keeps steam in so the liquid stays at its level and the long, gentle cooking extracts flavor from the meat and vegetables. If steam escapes, the liquid can reduce and the flavor becomes concentrated and uneven.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, ham, onion, pepper, carrot, celery):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, ham, onion, pepper, carrot, celery. 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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