Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
To Roast Beef
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.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Season the beef with coarse sea salt and black pepper, then dredge it well with flour.
Place the beef in a baking pan and cover it tightly.
Add a small amount of water to the pan; baste the beef often and only add more water as needed.
Once cooked, transfer the beef to a platter and garnish with cranberry sauce or thinly sliced pickles.
Serve with your choice of gravy.
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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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + cranberrytop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together218 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Flour + cranberrytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together268 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Beef + cranberrytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Flour + saucetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,078 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the cranberry
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper, flour, sauce):
- Limefits better
- Avocadofits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Cranberrythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, flour, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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