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Beef Breslau

A baked beef casserole in greased cups with stock, butter, breadcrumbs, milk, eggs, parsley, salt, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Beef Breslau

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Mix together the chopped beef, stock, melted butter, bread crumbs, milk, egg yolks, parsley, salt, and pepper.

  2. Press the mixture into greased cups.

Bake and serve

  1. Place the cups in a pan partially filled with boiling water.

  2. Bake for 30 minutes at 400°F (200°C).

  3. Serve with tomato sauce.

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. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  2. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

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

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

  5. Bread + milktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Chopped cooked beef
Provides the main body and savory flavor of the dish.
Egg yolks
Bind the mixture and set on baking, giving a firm, custard-like texture.
Bread crumbs
Absorb liquid and add body, helping the mixture hold its shape.
Milk
Adds moisture and softness, keeping the mixture tender as it bakes.
Melted butter
Adds richness and fat, contributing moistness and flavor.

The step that matters

Place the cups in a pan partially filled with boiling water. The water bath moderates the oven's heat around the cups, so the egg-rich mixture cooks gently and evenly. Without it, the edges can overcook and turn rubbery before the centre sets.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, butter, bread, milk, egg, pepper):

  1. Nutmegfits about as well
  2. Parsleythe original
  3. Cinnamonfits about as well
  4. Thymefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, butter, bread, milk, egg, pepper. 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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