Why it works: Dill and allspice share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 52 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Lena Kracht
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the beef
Place three pounds beef from shoulder, water to cover, a few whole allspice and peppers, two bay leaves, one large onion, salt, four dill pickles and vinegar according to taste in a pot.
Remove the meat when tender and add one pint sour cream in which two tablespoons flour have been thoroughly mixed to the stock.
Make the gravy
Boil a few minutes. Strain the mixture.
Pour the strained gravy over the meat and serve.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Beef | 100g cooked | 250 |
| Yogurt | 170g plain Greek | 100 |
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Allspice | 1 tsp ground (1.9g) | 5 |
| Dill | 5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried | 4 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Bay Leaf | 1 leaf (0.6g) | 2 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 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.
-
Dill + allspicetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together52 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Dill + vinegartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together659 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Onion + dilltop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,639 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Flour + allspicetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,302 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
- Beef from shoulder
- Slow cooking in liquid turns the tough connective tissue tender and succulent.
- Sour cream
- Adds richness and a tangy acidity that gives the gravy body.
- Flour
- Thickens the stock into a smooth gravy as it heats.
- Dill pickles
- Contribute brine, sourness and dill flavour to the gravy.
The step that matters
Add the sour cream and flour mixture to the stock. Flour mixed into sour cream should be blended thoroughly before adding, so it disperses without lumps. Then boiling briefly thickens the gravy evenly, and the sour cream is kept from curdling by not overheating it.
Swap the allspice
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, cream, flour, onion, dill, vinegar):
- Tarragonfits better
- Garlicfits better
- Capersfits better
- Allspicethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, cream, flour, onion, dill, vinegar. 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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