Why it works: Sugar and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
To Pickle Beef or Tongues
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the brine
Wipe the beef well to remove blood and moisture.
Mix the coarse salt, fine salt, saltpetre, brown sugar, and molasses in a pot.
Boil the mixture for 20 minutes, skimming off any scum. Once no more scum rises, remove from heat.
Cure the beef
Place the beef in a large tub or barrel.
Gradually pour the brine over the beef, rubbing it into the meat as it cools.
Cover the beef with a thick cloth and check it frequently.
Skim off any floating debris and baste the meat with the brine.
After about two weeks, the beef will be ready for use.
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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Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Beef + molassestop 35% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together606 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Beef + sugartop 37% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,435 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fresh beef
- Is the meat being cured, becoming firm and seasoned as it absorbs the brine.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws moisture out of the meat and helps preserve it during curing.
- Fine salt
- Penetrates the meat quickly and adds seasoning throughout the cure.
- Saltpetre
- Helps preserve the meat's pink colour during long curing.
- Brown sugar
- Balances the saltiness and adds mild sweetness to the cured flavour.
- Molasses
- Adds depth, dark colour and a rich sweetness to the brine.
The step that matters
Boil the brine and skim it fully. Scum left in the brine can carry impurities into the cure and spoil the flavour. Skimming until nothing more rises gives a clean brine that dissolves the salt and sugar evenly.
“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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