Why it works: Pepper and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 85,593 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Broiled Steak
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Preheat the broiling oven until hot.
Wipe and trim the steak, then place it in an oiled broiler.
Broil
Sear the meat on one side, then on the other.
For a 1-inch thick steak, cook for 4 to 8 minutes, turning often.
Serve
Place the steak on a platter, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and spread with butter before serving.
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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Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Steak
- Provides the meat that browns on the surface and stays juicy inside when cooked briefly over high heat.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a glossy coating that carries flavor over the hot steak.
The step that matters
Searing and turning the steak. High heat browns the surface through the Maillard reaction, building flavor. Turning often keeps the outside from burning before the centre reaches the desired doneness.
“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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