Why it works: Mace and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,257 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
Potted Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the beef
Procure a lean beef free of gristle and skin.
Put the beef into a jar with 1 tablespoonful of water.
Cover the jar closely.
Place the jar in a saucepan of boiling water, letting the water come within 2 inches of the top of the jar. Boil gently for 3-1/2 hours.
Remove the beef, chop it very small with a chopping knife. Pound the chopped beef thoroughly in a mortar.
Mix in the gravy that has run from it, and a little clarified butter.
Add seasoning of salt, cayenne, pounded mace, and black pepper.
Put the mixture in small pots for use.
Cover with a little warmed clarified butter poured over.
Make the potted beef from leftovers
Cut up the remains of cold roast or boiled beef into small pieces.
Pound the pieces well with a little butter in a mortar.
Add seasoning of cayenne and pounded mace, ensuring mace is finely powdered. Mix all ingredients thoroughly.
Put the mixture into glass or earthen potting pots. Pour a coating of clarified butter over the top.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 5 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Cayenne | 1 tsp (1.8g) | 6 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
| Mace | 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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Mace + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,257 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Mace and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,257 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef (in the method)
- Forms the main body of the potted meat and gives its savoury flavour.
- Clarified butter (in the method)
- Adds richness and seals the surface, helping preserve the potted meat.
- Mace
- Adds a warm, aromatic spice flavour to the meat.
- Black pepper
- Adds mild heat and sharp aroma to the seasoning.
The step that matters
Pounding the chopped beef thoroughly. Pounding breaks the meat into fine, even fibres so it blends smoothly with the butter and gravy. Incomplete pounding leaves coarse, uneven texture in the finished potted beef.
“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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