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A-LA-mode Beef

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

A-LA-mode Beef

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Remove the bone from the beef and secure the opening with skewers. Tie the meat with kitchen twine.

  2. Rub the beef all over with salt.

  3. Chop the marrow and suet together. Pound the spices and chop the pot herbs finely.

  4. Pick the leaves from the sweet marjoram and basil, then rub them to a powder. You need at least 4 tablespoons of each.

  5. Mix the spices, salt, and herbs together.

  6. Cut the bacon or pork into pieces about ¼ inch thick and 2 inches long.

  7. Make deep incisions in the beef, close together. Fill each hole with seasoning, then insert a piece of bacon, pressing it down and covering with more seasoning.

  8. Pour a little wine into each hole.

  9. Repeat the stuffing process on the other side of the beef.

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. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Marjoram + basiltop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together688 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

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

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Parsley + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Thyme + basiltop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,768 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pork, parsley, thyme, marjoram, basil, nutmeg):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Parsnipfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pork, parsley, thyme, marjoram, basil, nutmeg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

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