Why it works: Beef and pork match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,690 recipes. Both carry 12-methyltridecanal, which smells tallowy, beefy. The science ↓
Braised Beef
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 beef
Wipe the beef and dredge it with flour.
Cook the pork cubes in a kettle until browned, then remove the scraps.
Put the beef into the hot fat and brown all surfaces.
Braise
Add peppercorns, vegetables, seasoning, and enough boiling water to cover the beef.
Cover the pan and cook in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about four hours.
Baste the meat frequently.
Finish and serve
Thicken the liquid, season to taste, and serve with the meat.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + porktop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,690 recipes
Shared aroma: 12-methyltridecanal (tallowy, beefy).
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Beef + flourtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,677 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + porktop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,187 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
- Beef
- Forms the main body of the dish, becoming tender through long, slow cooking in liquid.
- Flour
- Coats the beef so it browns evenly and helps thicken the cooking liquid.
- Pork cubes
- Render fat and flavour the hot fat used to brown the beef.
- Vegetables
- Add sweetness and aroma to the braising liquid as they soften.
The step that matters
Browning the beef in the hot fat. Searing creates browned surfaces through the Maillard reaction, which builds deep savoury flavour. Crowding the pan or insufficient heat causes steaming instead, leaving the meat grey and less flavourful.
“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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