Why it works: Onion and carrot are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 21,601 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Beef Fillet in Madeira
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Lard the beef fillet and join the ends together.
Braise
Place the fillet in a stewpan with onions, carrots, bouquet garni, consommé, and Madeira.
Cover with buttered paper and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and let it boil slowly.
Put a fire on top of the stewpan.
Make the sauce and serve
Once done, strain the broth through a silk sieve, reduce it, and serve as a sauce for the meat.
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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Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21,601 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Beef + carrottop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,606 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef fillet
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooking gently to stay tender in the liquid.
- Consommé
- Provides the cooking liquid that gently moistens and flavours the meat as it braises.
- Madeira
- Adds sweet, aromatic wine flavour that deepens as the sauce reduces.
- Onions
- Release sweetness and savoury depth into the braising liquid.
- Carrots
- Add gentle sweetness and body to the braising liquid and sauce.
The step that matters
Keep the braising liquid at a slow simmer. A hard boil toughens the muscle proteins and can make the meat dry and stringy, while a gentle simmer keeps the fillet tender and the broth clear.
Swap the carrot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, onion):
- Potatofits better
- Chivefits better
- Leekfits about as well
- Carrotthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, onion. 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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