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Beef Gravy

A thick beef gravy made by simmering beef pieces with onion, spices, and bread.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Beef Gravy

Why it works: Allspice and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,395 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Beef Gravy

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the gravy

  1. Cut the beef into pieces.

  2. Strew flour over the meat and mix well.

  3. Place the meat in a saucepan and cover with water.

  4. Add the onion, allspice, pepper, and salt.

  5. Cover and bring to a boil, then skim off any foam.

Stew and serve

  1. Add the crust of bread or breadcrumbs and stew until the gravy is rich.

  2. Strain the gravy and pour it into a sauce boat.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Allspice + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

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

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

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

  4. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

  5. Flour + allspicetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,302 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

Beef cheek or neck
Provides the meat and collagen that enrich the gravy during long stewing.
Flour
Coats the meat and thickens the liquid as it cooks.
Bread crust or breadcrumbs
Soaks up fat and dissolves gently, adding body and richness to the gravy.
Onion
Adds savory sweetness and aroma as it softens into the stock.

The step that matters

Skimming off the foam after boiling. Foam is made of denatured proteins and impurities that cloud the liquid and taste bitter if left in. Removing it early keeps the gravy clear and clean-flavored.

Swap the allspice

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, flour, onion, pepper, bread):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Turmericfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Allspicethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, flour, onion, pepper, bread. 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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