Why it works: Potato and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Beef Steak Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Cut the steak into strips, 2 inches long and 1 inch wide.
Stew the steak with the bone in just enough water to cover until partly cooked.
Slice the cold boiled potatoes.
Assemble the pie
Line a baking dish with pie crust.
Layer the meat with salt, pepper, and thinly sliced onion, then add a layer of sliced potatoes with bits of butter.
Repeat layers of steak and potatoes until the dish is full.
Thicken the broth with brown flour and add it to the dish.
Cover with a top crust, making a slit in the middle, and brush with beaten egg.
Bake
Bake at 400°F (200°C) until golden brown.
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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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rump or flank steak
- Provides the main meat, which becomes tender as it stews and bakes.
- 6 cold boiled potatoes
- Form the starchy layers that soak up the broth and give body to the filling.
- Brown flour
- Thickens the broth so it clings to the meat and potatoes rather than running off.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that carries flavour through the layers and aids browning.
- 1 egg
- Beaten and brushed on the top crust to promote a glossy, golden browning.
The step that matters
Thicken the broth before adding it to the dish. Flour needs heat and liquid to swell and gelatinise; if the broth is not properly thickened, the filling will be thin and watery once baked.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, pepper, butter, flour, egg):
- Chivefits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against potato, pepper, butter, flour, egg. 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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