Why it works: Parsley and sage match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,445 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
To Collar Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the beef
Choose the thinnest end of the flank of beef, ensuring it is not too fat or too lean.
Let the beef hang in a cool place for 24 hours until the skin appears moist.
Rub in some coarse brown sugar and let it sit for another 48 hours.
Cure the beef
Prepare a brine with ¾ pound of coarse sea salt and 1½ ounces of saltpetre.
Rub the beef well with the brine for one week.
Season and cook
Remove the bones, gristle, and inner skin from the beef.
Make a seasoning mix with sweet herbs, parsley, sage, pepper, ground spice, and salt.
Cover the beef well with the seasoning, roll it in a cloth, and tie it securely with broad tape.
Boil the beef gently for six hours.
After boiling, place a weight on the beef while it is still hot to retain its shape when cooled.
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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Parsley + sagetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,445 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Sage + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,388 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + parsleytop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,866 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flank of beef
- Forms the meat that is cured, seasoned and boiled into the finished dish.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture and seasons the meat during the curing period.
- Saltpetre
- Helps the meat keep its pink colour during curing.
- Coarse brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the saltiness of the cure.
The step that matters
Placing a weight on the beef after boiling. Pressing the meat while it is still hot lets it set into a firm shape as it cools. Without weight, the joint may cool loose and crumble when sliced.
Swap the sage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, sugar, parsley, pepper):
- Marjoramfits better
- Thymefits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Sagethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, sugar, parsley, 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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