Why it works: Pepper and shallot are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,898 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Beef Steaks
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the steaks
Cut steaks from the rump.
Broil over a clear fire or on a charcoal stove using a grill.
Season with coarse sea salt and black pepper.
Serve
Place chopped shallot on the serving dish.
Add a small piece of butter and a spoonful of ketchup.
Serve hot, ensuring all other dishes are ready before the steaks are cooked.
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 + shallottop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,898 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Shallot + ketchuptop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together476 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Shallot + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,426 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Butter + ketchuptop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,784 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Steaks from the rump
- Main protein; cooking over direct heat browns the surface and firms the meat.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a rounded flavour as it melts over the hot steak.
- Chopped shallot
- Adds a mild, sharp onion-like aroma to the finished plate.
- Ketchup
- Adds sweetness and acidity that balances the savoury beef.
The step that matters
Broil over a clear fire or on a charcoal stove using a grill.. Steaks cook quickly over intense heat, so timing matters. Too little heat leaves the surface grey and the centre unevenly cooked, while too much heat can char the outside before the inside reaches the desired doneness.
Swap the shallot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, butter, ketchup):
- Capsicumfits better
- Shallotthe original
- Carrotfits about as well
- Horseradishfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, butter, ketchup. 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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