Why it works: Beef and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,232 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
A Beef-steak 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
Mix 1 pound of butter with 2 pounds of sifted flour to make a paste, then divide the paste in half.
Line a well-buttered deep dish with one half of the paste.
Season the beef steak with pepper and salt.
Assemble
Layer the seasoned steak in the dish.
Add a layer of sliced potatoes and small bits of butter rolled in flour.
Repeat layering with steak, potatoes, and butter until the dish is full.
If using clams or oysters, moisten the layers with their liquor; otherwise, add ½ pint of cold water.
Bake and serve
Cover the pie with the remaining paste, notching the edges and decorating with reserved paste.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 1 hour and 15 minutes or longer, depending on size.
Serve hot.
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.
-
Beef + mushroomtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,232 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
-
Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
-
Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,052 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Pepper + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Potato + mushroomtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together968 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the paste that encloses the filling and holds its shape while baking.
- Butter
- Adds richness and flakiness to the paste and moisture to the layered filling.
- Beef steak
- Provides the meat filling that becomes tender as it cooks in the sealed pie.
- Potatoes
- Add starch and bulk to the layers, absorbing juices as the pie bakes.
The step that matters
Adding the liquid to the layers. Moisture from the water or shellfish liquor keeps the meat from drying out while it bakes in the sealed crust. Too little liquid risks a dry filling, so the amount should suit the pie's size.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, beef, pepper, mushroom):
- Shallotfits about as well
- Chivefits about as well
- Potatothe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, beef, pepper, mushroom. 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.
You might also like
Potato Croquettes255 recipes
Roast Beef211 recipes
Beef Loaf175 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.