Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Ruth Pinch's Beefsteak Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the meat
Cut the steak into strips 1 inch long and less than ½ inch wide.
Place the steak in a saucepan and cover it.
Set the saucepan in another saucepan filled with cold water.
Bring the water to a boil slowly and let the meat cool before opening the inner saucepan.
Assemble and bake
Butter a baking dish and line it with strips of pie crust.
Layer the meat in the dish, seasoning with pepper, salt, and a few drops of onion juice, and dredge with browned flour.
Continue layering meat, seasoning, and flour until the dish is full.
Pour in the juice from the meat and 1 cup of cold water.
Cover with a top crust and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 45 minutes.
Serve
Serve directly from the dish.
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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Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 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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Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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
- Beef steak
- Provides the main meat, which turns tender and juicy as it cooks slowly in the sealed dish.
- Browned flour
- Thickens the meat juices into a rich gravy and adds a toasty, nutty flavour.
- Pie crust
- Forms the structure around the filling and crisps and browns in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds richness and helps the crust brown and taste savoury.
- Onion juice
- Adds a sharp, aromatic savoury note that boosts the meat's flavour.
The step that matters
Bring the water to a boil slowly and let the meat cool before opening the inner saucepan.. Gentle heating cooks the steak in its own juices without toughening it. Letting it cool before opening keeps the released juices inside and avoids a burn from steam.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper, flour, butter):
- Potatofits about as well
- Chivefits about as well
- Leekfits about as well
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, flour, butter. 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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