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Beef Loaf

A loaf of ground beef and salt pork mixed with breadcrumbs, eggs, milk, and seasonings, baked with tomatoes.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Beef Loaf

Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. 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 the loaf

  1. Grind the round steak and salt pork with the bread crumbs.

  2. In a bowl, beat the eggs slightly and add the sweet milk.

  3. Mix the meat mixture with the egg and milk mixture thoroughly.

  4. Shape the mixture into a roll.

  5. Grease a baking pan and place the roll inside.

Bake

  1. Add boiling water to the pan to keep the loaf moist.

  2. After 30 minutes, pour ½ can of tomatoes over the top and baste with the juice.

  3. Bake for 1 hour at 350°F (175°C).

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.

  1. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Pork + oniontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,214 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Bread + milktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  5. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Round steak
Forms the main body of the loaf and gives it its meaty texture.
Salt pork
Adds fat, which keeps the loaf juicy and adds flavour as it cooks.
Bread crumbs
Absorb liquid and help bind the meat so the loaf holds its shape.
Eggs
Bind the meat mixture and help it set firm when baked.
Sweet milk
Adds moisture and softens the crumb of the loaf.

The step that matters

Bake with boiling water in the pan. Water in the pan turns to steam and keeps the surrounding heat gentle and humid, so the loaf stays moist instead of drying out before the centre sets.

Swap the parsley

The recipe marks parsley as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, bread, milk, onion, egg, pepper):

  1. Garlicfits about as well
  2. Parsleythe original
  3. Thymefits about as well
  4. Marjoramfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, bread, milk, onion, egg, 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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