Why it works: Pepper and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 85,593 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Broiled Steak
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wipe the steak with a cloth dampened in cold water and trim off excess fat.
Grease the broiler with some of the fat and place the steak in it.
Broil
Broil over a clear fire, turning every ten seconds for the first two minutes to sear the surface.
After the first minute, turn occasionally until cooked to your liking.
For rare, cook for 8-10 minutes; for well done, cook for 12 minutes.
Serve
Remove the steak to a hot platter, serve with butter, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
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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Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Steak
- Provides the main protein, which firms and browns as its surface sears under high heat.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth fat coating that carries flavor across the cooked meat.
The step that matters
Searing the surface with frequent turning. Turning every ten seconds at the start keeps the surface from burning while it browns. Frequent turning under a hot flame builds a crust without overcooking the interior, which helps the steak cook evenly toward the doneness you want.
“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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