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Gravy, Beef, Clear

A clear beef gravy made by simmering shin of beef with water, onion, herbs, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Gravy, Beef, Clear

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the beef

  1. Cut the shin of beef into small pieces.

  2. Fry the beef over medium heat until lightly browned, being careful not to burn it.

  3. Pour the boiling water over the beef and skim thoroughly.

Simmer

  1. Simmer for 30 minutes.

  2. Add salt, fried onion, parsley, thyme, cloves, and peppercorns.

  3. Simmer gently for 2 hours.

  4. Strain the gravy and set aside for use.

  5. Remove the fat from the top before reheating.

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.

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. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Thyme + clovetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,108 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Parsley + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,768 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

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

  5. Onion + thymetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,171 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

Shin of beef
Provides meat and collagen that give the stock body and rich flavour as it simmers.
Onion
Frying adds browned, sweet aroma that deepens the colour and flavour of the gravy.
Peppercorns
Release aromatic compounds slowly during simmering, adding a mild, warm spice note.

The step that matters

Skim thoroughly after adding the boiling water. Proteins and fat rise to the surface as the broth heats. Removing this foam early keeps the liquid clear and prevents a cloudy, greasy gravy.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, onion, parsley, thyme):

  1. Marjoramfits better
  2. Garlicfits better
  3. Rosemaryfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, onion, parsley, thyme. 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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