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Potted Beef

A dish of beef simmered with salt pork, vinegar, and water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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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 ↓

Potted Beef

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare and fry

  1. Place beef in a kettle with slices of salt pork at the bottom.

  2. Season the beef with salt and pepper.

  3. Pour 2 tablespoons of vinegar over the beef.

  4. Fry the beef for a few minutes, then turn the beef.

Cook slowly

  1. After 10 minutes, add ½ pint of water.

  2. Do not let the mixture boil dry.

  3. Add hot water as needed.

  4. Cook the beef slowly.

  5. Keep the kettle covered.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Beef + porktop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,690 recipes

    Shared aroma: 12-methyltridecanal (tallowy, beefy).

  2. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Pork + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,121 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Pork + vinegartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef
Main protein that becomes tender and juicy during slow, moist cooking.
Slices of salt pork
Renders fat into the kettle, adding richness and savoury flavour to the beef.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that gives the dish a sharp, tangy note.
Water
Provides liquid for slow, moist cooking so the meat does not dry out.

The step that matters

Do not let the mixture boil dry. Slow cooking in a covered kettle relies on enough liquid to keep the meat moist. If the liquid evaporates completely, the beef can scorch and toughen, so hot water is added as needed.

“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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