Why it works: Sauce and ketchup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,099 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Roast Beef
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Dredge the beef roast lightly with flour and season with coarse sea salt and black pepper.
Roast and serve
Place the roast in the oven and baste frequently while roasting.
Cook for 15 minutes per pound for rare, longer for well done.
Serve with a sauce made from the drippings, adding 1 tablespoon of Harvey sauce or Worcestershire sauce and 1 tablespoon of tomato ketchup.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
-
Sauce + ketchuptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,099 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Beef + tomatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,448 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Sauce + tomatotop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,469 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef roast
- Provides the main protein; slow oven heat firms and browns its outer surface while the inside cooks gently.
- Flour (in the method)
- Dusted on the beef, it helps the surface brown and thickens the drippings into a sauce.
- Harvey sauce or worcestershire sauce
- Adds savory, tangy depth to the drippings sauce.
- Tomato ketchup
- Adds sweetness and acidity to the drippings sauce.
The step that matters
Cook for 15 minutes per pound for rare, longer for well done.. Roast timing depends on weight and doneness, and meat keeps cooking after leaving the oven. Checking the internal temperature helps avoid overcooking, which dries out the meat.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper, sauce, ketchup):
- Capsicumfits better
- Horseradishfits about as well
- Tomatothe original
- Onionfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, sauce, ketchup. 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.
More roast beef recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Beef Loaf175 recipes
Cream of Tomato Soup107 recipes
Corned Beef87 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.