Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Beefsteak Pie
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
Prepare a seasoning of 3 parts coarse sea salt, 1 part black pepper, and a dash of ground nutmeg.
Cut the tender steak into thin slices and sprinkle each slice with the seasoning and chopped parsley.
Roll up each slice and secure with a small wooden skewer.
Assemble and bake
Line a deep dish with pie crust and fill it with the rolled steak.
Add enough water to create a good gravy and layer sliced hard-boiled eggs on top.
Cover with another layer of pie crust, wash with egg, and bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C).
After 10 minutes, the pie should be cooked through.
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 + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Nutmeg + parsleytop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,062 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Nutmeg + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together24,744 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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Parsley + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,765 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Nutmeg and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 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
- Tender steak
- Forms the main filling; cooks through to become tender and savoury in the baked pie.
- Pie crust
- Encloses the filling and browns in the oven, giving the pie its structure.
- Hard boiled eggs
- Adds richness and a firm, sliced texture to the filling.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the steak and draws out flavour from the meat.
The step that matters
Judging when the pie is cooked through. The record gives only a 10-minute check, which may be too short for a whole steak filling to cook through. Thin slices cook faster, but rolled meat under a pastry lid needs an internal check so the centre is not left underdone.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, parsley, egg):
- Dillfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Nutmegthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, parsley, egg. 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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