Name: Tenderloin of Beef
Ingredients: 1 whole tenderloin of beef; 1 pint water; 1 cup Irish potatoes, washed, peeled, and chopped; 1 cup carrots, washed, peeled, and chopped; 1 cup turnips, washed, peeled, and chopped; 1 large bunch celery, washed and chopped; 1 teaspoon pounded allspice; 1 tablespoon butter; 1 lean piece of beef; 1 small onion, finely chopped; Salt and pepper to taste; Eggs for wetting; Grated cracker or fine bread crumbs for coating

Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

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.

Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,173 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together8,002 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Turnip + celerytop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,418 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + carrottop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,107 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef tenderloin: Forms the main roast, which becomes tender as it cooks slowly in liquid.
Irish potatoes: Soften during simmering and help thicken the gravy with their starch.
Carrots: Add natural sweetness and colour to the gravy as they cook.
Turnips: Contribute body and a mild sweetness to the simmering liquid.
Eggs: Act as a binder so the breadcrumb coating sticks to the meatballs.
Breadcrumbs (in the method): Form a crisp, browned coating on the outside of the meatballs when fried.

The step that matters

Fry the balls until light brown. Breadcrumb coatings brown quickly and can scorch before the centre heats through. Moderate heat and stopping at light brown keeps the coating crisp and the meatballs cooked inside.

Swap the allspice

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, potato, carrot, turnip, celery, butter, onion):

Parsleyfits better
Thymefits better
Marjoramfits better
Allspicethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, potato, carrot, turnip, celery, butter, onion. 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.

Tenderloin of Beef