Why it works: Garlic and onion 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 ↓
Matambre II
Ingredients
Directions
Marinate and prepare
Slice each steak horizontally to within 1/2" of the opposite side, fold open, and place in a shallow dish, one atop the other.
Combine garlic, vinegar, and thyme; pour mixture over beef, cover, and refrigerate for 6 hours to marinate.
Cook carrots in salted water for 20 minutes or until nearly tender.
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Fill and roll
Remove beef from the marinade, pat dry with paper towels, and place with the long side of each steak overlapping 2 inches.
Pound the overlapping edges together with a meat mallet.
Spread spinach over the entire surface of the beef.
Arrange cooked carrots crosswise over the spinach.
Sprinkle with parsley, salt, cayenne pepper, egg wedges, and onion rings.
Roll the beef and filling, tie with kitchen string at 3" intervals.
Roast and serve
Place in a large roasting pan, pour vegetable oil over and beef stock around the beef.
Cover and roast for 1 hour, adding more stock as needed.
Cool for 10 minutes, remove the string, slice the beef, and strain the cooking liquid.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 15 of 16 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 15 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Beef | 100g cooked | 250 |
| Olive Oil | 1 tbsp (14g) | 119 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Wine | 2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml) | 25 |
| Carrot | 1 medium (61g) | 25 |
| Chili | 1 tsp (2.7g) | 8 |
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| Spinach | 1 cup raw (30g) | 7 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Garlic | 1 clove (3g) | 4 |
| Thyme | 1 tsp dried (1.4g) | 4 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Parsley | 1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g) | 1 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
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.
-
Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together29,058 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Garlic + parsleytop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,308 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Clove + parsleytop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,768 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
-
Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef sirloin
- Forms the main body of the roll and becomes tender during slow, covered roasting.
- Eggs
- Hard-cooked wedges add firm texture and visual contrast to the sliced roll.
- Red wine vinegar
- Acidity in the marinade helps tenderize the beef and adds tang.
- Carrots
- Add sweetness and a firm, colorful filling that holds its shape when sliced.
- Spinach
- Adds moisture and a soft, leafy layer within the rolled beef.
- Beef stock
- Provides liquid in the pan that keeps the beef moist while it roasts.
The step that matters
Rolling and tying the beef. A tight, even roll with snug string keeps the filling in place and the slices neat. Loose rolling lets filling spill out and the beef cook unevenly.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, egg, garlic, onion, vinegar, wine, parsley):
- Tarragonfits better
- Thymefits better
- Rosemaryfits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, egg, garlic, onion, vinegar, wine, parsley. 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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