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Tenderloin of Beef

Tenderloin of beef cooked with vegetables, allspice, butter, and served with meatballs in a rich gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By F. L. Gillette and Hugo Ziemann · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Celery and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,422 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Tenderloin of Beef

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the beef and vegetables

  1. Extract the tenderloin from the hind-quarter before cutting the hind-quarter.

  2. Wash the tenderloin well.

  3. Place the tenderloin in an oven and add about a pint of water.

  4. Chop a good handful of Irish potatoes, carrots, turnips, and a large bunch of celery; wash, peel, and chop raw.

  5. Add the chopped vegetables to the meat; they blend with the juice to form and flavor the gravy.

Braise and enrich the gravy

  1. Let the whole slowly simmer.

  2. When nearly done, add a teaspoonful of pounded allspice.

  3. Add a tablespoonful of butter to give richness to the gravy.

  4. If the gravy looks too greasy, skim off some of the melted suet.

Make the meatballs and serve

  1. Boil a lean piece of beef until perfectly done.

  2. Chop the boiled beef finely.

  3. Flavor the chopped beef with a very small quantity of onion, pepper, and salt to taste.

  4. Make small balls from the flavored beef.

  5. Wet the balls on the outside with eggs.

  6. Roll the wet balls in grated cracker or fine bread crumbs.

  7. Fry the meatballs until light brown.

  8. When serving, put the meatballs around the tenderloin and pour the rich gravy over the whole.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

233Calories
0 gProtein
25 gFat
3 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Vegetable1 tbsp (14g)120
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Allspice1 tsp ground (1.9g)5
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By F. L. Gillette and Hugo Ziemann. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

  1. Celery + allspicetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,422 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Celery + buttertop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,049 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Allspice + buttertop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,325 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef tenderloin (in the method)
Forms the main roast, releasing juices that become the base of the gravy.
Celery
Adds aromatic flavor to the gravy as it simmers with the meat.
Butter
Adds fat and richness to the finished gravy.
Eggs (in the method)
Act as a binder so the cracker crumbs cling to the meatballs.

The step that matters

Skimming the gravy. Melted fat from the beef collects on the surface during simmering. Skimming it off keeps the gravy from tasting greasy, while the butter added later restores body and richness.

Swap the allspice

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (celery, butter):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Allspicethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against celery, butter. 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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