Why it works: Meat and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,594 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
For Roasting
Ingredients
Directions
Clear ashes from the grate and prepare a fire suitable for the size of the joint.
Clean and dry the meat thoroughly after washing it in salt and water.
Draw live coals to the front of the grate and add wet cinders and small coal for heat.
Trim excess fat from the meat, leaving enough for basting, and cover with buttered paper tied with twine.
Skewer the joint minimally to prevent gravy loss and hang it on the jack for even cooking.
Position the joint at a distance from the fire to avoid scorching while warming through.
Baste the joint frequently with the dripping fat as it melts, using butter if dripping is scant.
Remove excess dripping from the pan before it scorches.
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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Meat + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,594 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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