Why it works: Pepper and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 50,459 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Beefsteak Pie
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Season the beefsteak pieces with salt and pepper, then dredge them in flour.
Butter a 1-quart bowl and line it with the suet crust, pressing it gently against the bowl.
Fill the bowl with the seasoned meat and add 1 cup of cold water.
Seal and cook
Leave enough crust over the edge to form a cover, ensuring there are no holes.
Pinch the edges together and tie a floured cloth over the bowl securely. Bring the four ends of the cloth over the top and tie them.
Plunge the bowl into boiling water and boil gently for 2 hours.
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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Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beefsteak
- Provides the meat that becomes tender and rich during the long, gentle boil.
- Suet crust
- Forms the sealed pastry case that holds the meat and water while it cooks.
- Flour
- Dredging the meat helps thicken the cooking liquid and lightly coat the surface.
The step that matters
Sealing the crust and cloth. Any holes or loose edges let boiling water seep in and make the filling soggy. A tight cover and securely tied cloth keep the contents moist and the crust intact during the 2-hour boil.
“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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