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Roly Poly

A rolled round steak filled with mashed potatoes, bread crumbs, butter, parsley, and onion, baked and topped with browned cracker crumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Roly Poly

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the filling

  1. Beat the round steak thoroughly.

  2. Lay the beaten steak flat on a board.

  3. In a bowl, mix the mashed potatoes, bread crumbs, butter, parsley, onion, salt, and pepper.

  4. Spread the mixture evenly over the steak.

Roll and bake

  1. Roll the steak tightly like a jelly cake.

  2. Secure the roll with skewers or sewing.

  3. Place the rolled steak in a baking tin with a little water.

  4. Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C). Baste the steak every few minutes.

Finish

  1. Sift browned cracker crumbs over the top before serving.

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 + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  3. Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,855 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Round steak
Forms the outer wrapper that holds the filling and becomes tender when cooked.
Mashed irish potatoes
Adds moisture and a soft texture to the filling.
Bread crumbs
Absorb liquid in the filling and help it hold its shape.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and helps keep the filling moist.
Minced onion
Adds savory aroma and flavor to the filling.

The step that matters

Roll the steak tightly. A tight roll keeps the filling inside and gives an even slice. Loose rolling lets the filling escape or cook unevenly during baking.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, bread, butter, parsley, pepper):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, bread, butter, parsley, pepper. 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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