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Gravy and Sauces

A thick gravy made by browning meat, simmering with water, and straining.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Gravy and Sauces

Ingredients

Directions

Brown the meat

  1. Cut the meat into small pieces and beat it with a mallet to release juices.

  2. Season the meat with salt and pepper, then place it in a stew pan with butter.

  3. Gradually heat the pan until the meat is browned, about 30 minutes, shaking frequently to prevent burning.

Simmer and strain

  1. Add 1 pint of boiling water for each pound of meat and simmer for 3 hours, skimming regularly and keeping covered.

  2. Remove from heat, let it settle, then strain the gravy.

  3. Store in a cool place if not using immediately, but do not thicken until ready to serve.

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

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

  2. Beef + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,847 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  3. Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Beef or veal
Provides the meat flavour and juices that make up the body of the gravy.
Butter
Fat that helps the meat brown and carries flavour in the pan.

The step that matters

Browning the meat slowly while shaking it. Gradual heat and frequent shaking keep the meat from scorching before it browns. Browned meat gives the gravy a deeper, richer flavour, while burnt bits add bitterness.

“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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