Name: Beef Loaf
Ingredients: 3 pounds ground round steak; 1 package Uneeda biscuits; 1 tablespoon salt; 1 teaspoon pepper; Sage to taste; 6 onions, chopped; 1 pint milk; 2 eggs

Why it works: Pepper and sage match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,388 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Beef Loaf

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Make and bake the loaf

In a large bowl, combine the ground round steak, crushed Uneeda biscuits, salt, pepper, sage, chopped onions, milk, and eggs, and mix well until all ingredients are combined.
Transfer the mixture to a loaf pan and shape it into a loaf.
Bake in the preheated oven for 1.5 hours.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

Pepper + sagetop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,388 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Biscuit + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together428 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Biscuit + peppertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together841 recipes

Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Biscuit + sagetop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together35 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Ground round steak: Forms the main body of the loaf and provides its meaty flavor and structure.
Uneeda biscuits: Crushed biscuits absorb liquid and help bind the loaf so it holds its shape.
Eggs: Bind the mixture and help it set firm as it bakes.
Milk: Adds moisture so the loaf stays tender rather than dry.
Onions: Add moisture and savory sweetness as they soften during baking.