Why it works: Flour and meat are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 28% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,529 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Gravy
Ingredients
Directions
Pour off the drippings from the roasted meat.
If there's too much fat, pour some into a jar for frying.
Mix 1 tablespoon of flour with a little water until smooth.
Add the flour mixture to the drippings in the pan.
As it browns, pour in boiling water, adding more as it thickens while stirring continuously.
If lumpy, strain the gravy.
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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Flour + meattop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,529 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Thickens the drippings into a smooth gravy as it cooks and browns.
- Drippings from roasted meat
- Provide the fat and meaty flavor that the gravy is built on.
The step that matters
Stirring while adding boiling water. Flour mixed into hot fat can clump if liquid is added unevenly. Adding boiling water gradually while stirring continuously keeps the mixture smooth as starch thickens it.
“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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