Why it works: Beef and pepper 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 ↓
Another Beef Tea
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the beef into small dice.
In a saucepan, combine the beef, salt, flour, and pepper.
Pour in the cold water and let it sit for 1-2 hours.
Simmer and skim
Place the saucepan on the fire and bring it slowly to a boil.
Boil gently for 1 hour, adding a little hot water if it reduces too much.
Skim off any fat that rises to the surface.
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 + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Beef + flourtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,677 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Beef and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,677 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
- Lean beef
- Provides the meat flavor and tender bite of the broth as it simmers.
- Flour
- Lightly thickens the broth, giving it more body.
The step that matters
Bringing the broth to a boil slowly. Starting with cold water and heating gradually lets the meat release its flavor and juices into the liquid. Boiling hard from the start can toughen the meat and make the broth cloudy.
“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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