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Beef Steaks

Beef steaks seasoned with shallot, ketchup, butter, salt, and pepper, broiled over fire.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Beef Steaks

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the beef steaks from the rump and let them rest for a few days.

  2. In a dish, combine minced shallot and ketchup.

Cook and serve

  1. Broil the steaks over a clear or charcoal fire.

  2. Turn the steak often to keep the juices from escaping.

  3. Rub butter on the steak just before serving.

  4. Serve immediately, adding salt and pepper after removing from the fire.

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

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

  2. Shallot + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,898 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Beef + shallottop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,103 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Shallot + ketchuptop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together476 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Beef + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,847 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef steaks
Provide the main protein, which browns and firms as it cooks over direct heat.
Butter
Adds richness and a glossy coating that carries flavor across the steak surface.
Ketchup
Adds sweetness and acidity to the shallot mixture for a tangy accent.
Minced shallot
Adds a mild, sweet onion aroma and sharp flavor once combined with ketchup.

The step that matters

Turning the steak often over the fire. Frequent turning spreads heat evenly so the surface does not char before the interior cooks. Keeping juices inside helps the steak stay moist, since heat drives moisture out of muscle fibers.

Swap the shallot

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

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Onionfits better
  3. Tomatofits better
  4. Shallotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, ketchup, butter, 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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