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Gravy Clear

A clear beef gravy made by broiling beef, simmering with onions, cloves, pepper, allspice, sweet herbs, and hot water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Gravy Clear

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Broil a portion of the beef over a very hot fire to color the gravy, but do not cook it fully.

  2. Combine the broiled beef and raw beef in a tinned stewpan.

  3. Add the onions, cloves, black pepper, allspice, and sweet herbs.

  4. Cover with hot water and bring to a boil.

  5. Skim the surface 2-3 times, then cover and let it simmer until strong.

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. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

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

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Thinly sliced beef
Provides the main flavor and body of the gravy as it simmers.
Onions
Add savory sweetness and depth to the broth as they cook.
2 onions
Add savory sweetness and depth to the broth as they cook.

The step that matters

Skimming the surface. Skimming removes coagulated proteins and fat that rise during simmering, keeping the gravy clear and free of cloudiness.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, clove, pepper, allspice):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Mustardfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, clove, pepper, allspice. 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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