Why it works: Butter and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Broiled Beefsteak and Maitee Buttee
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the grill
Preheat a grill over hot coals.
Grease the grill with butter.
Cook the steak
Place the steak on the grill and sear one side.
Turn the steak immediately and sear the other side.
Continue cooking, turning often.
Spread maitre sauce on the hot steak before serving.
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.
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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Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 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
- Steak
- Provides the main protein; searing its surface builds browning and flavor.
- Maitre sauce
- Adds savory, tangy flavor to the hot steak just before serving.
The step that matters
Turning the steak immediately after searing the first side. Turning right away keeps the first side from overcooking or burning on the hot grill, so the surface browns evenly as the meat cooks through.
“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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