Why it works: Pepper and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓
Beef Cutlets
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Rub the steak all over with flour and cut into cutlets.
Slice onions and put them into a frying pan with sweet drippings to brown.
When the onions are done, remove them into a stewpan.
Brown and simmer
Put the cutlets into the frying pan and brown both sides.
When the cutlets are done, put them into the stewpan.
Pour hot water into the frying pan, stir, bring to a boil, and pour over the cutlets, adding a little salt, pepper, and cloves.
Simmer until tender.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Beef | 100g cooked | 250 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Tomato | 1 medium (123g) | 22 |
| Chili | 1 tsp (2.7g) | 8 |
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Sauce | 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.
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. See the original page.
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 + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,633 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Tomato + clovetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,474 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Round steak
- Provides the meat for the cutlets, which becomes tender through slow simmering.
- Flour (in the method)
- Coats the steak so it browns in the pan and thickens the cooking liquid slightly.
- Onions
- Browned in drippings to add sweetness and savory depth to the sauce.
- Chili sauce
- Adds acidity, heat and tang to the sauce.
The step that matters
Browning the cutlets. Browning both sides in hot drippings builds flavor through the Maillard reaction. Pale cutlets give a flat, bland sauce, and crowding the pan causes steaming rather than browning.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sauce, onion, tomato, pepper):
- Garlicfits better
- Cuminfits better
- Celeryfits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sauce, onion, tomato, pepper. 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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