Why it works: Sage and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,485 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Beefsteak and Mushrooms
Ingredients
Directions
In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.
Add the chopped onion, sage, and thyme; sauté until the onion is soft.
Stir in the flour and cook until it turns brown.
Add the water and bring to a boil; simmer for 30 minutes.
Mix in the beef stock, salt, nutmeg, and sherry wine.
Add the mushrooms and boil for 10 minutes.
Pour the sauce over a nicely broiled beefsteak.
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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Sage + thymetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,485 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Sage + nutmegtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together642 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Thyme + nutmegtop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,907 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Onion + beeftop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + thymetop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,171 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sage, thyme, flour, beef, nutmeg, sherry):
- Shallotfits better
- Leekfits better
- Parsnipfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sage, thyme, flour, beef, nutmeg, sherry. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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