Why it works: Pepper and beef are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Beefsteak Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the filling
Cut the steak into 3-inch square pieces, seasoning each with salt and pepper.
Roll each piece of steak into a roll and place them loosely in a flat baking dish.
Pour Worcestershire sauce and beef stock over the rolls.
Make the pastry
In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and a pinch of salt.
Knead the mixture with cold water to form a light dough.
Roll the dough thin, spreading one piece of butter on it, then fold into thirds and roll out again. Repeat until all butter is used.
Roll the dough to a size slightly larger than the dish and ½ inch thick.
Assemble and bake
Wet the dish's edge with cold water, line it with narrow strips of dough, and cover with the remaining dough, sealing the edges.
Brush the top with egg or milk, cut a small hole for steam, and decorate with leftover dough.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 300°F (150°C) and bake for 1 hour until the steak is tender.
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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Pepper + beeftop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sauce + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Beef + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,847 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Sauce + flourtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,078 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Flour and butter 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
- Round steak
- Becomes tender during the long, slow bake, forming the savoury filling.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the gluten structure of the dough that encloses the filling.
- Butter
- Folded into the dough in layers, it creates flaky pastry as it melts and steams.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, helping the pastry rise and stay light.
- Worcestershire sauce
- Adds savoury, tangy depth to the beef and stock in the filling.
The step that matters
Folding in the butter. Keeping the dough cold and spreading butter in thin, even layers creates separate sheets of pastry. If the butter softens and blends into the dough, the crust turns dense rather than flaky.
“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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