Name: Beef Tea
Ingredients: 1 pound beef, cut into small pieces; 4 cups cold water; 2-3 peppercorns (optional); 1 minced shallot (optional); 2 tablespoons boiled flour or genuine arrow-root (for thickening); 1 egg yolk (optional)

Why it works: Shallot and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,081 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Beef Tea

Ingredients

1 pound beef, cut into small pieces
4 cups cold water
2-3 peppercorns (optional)
1 minced shallot (optional)
2 tablespoons boiled flour or genuine arrow-root (for thickening)
1 egg yolk (optional)

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

Place the beef pieces in a pot and cover with cold water.
Add peppercorns and shallot if desired.

Cook

Simmer for 1 hour.
Alternatively, place beef and water in a jar with a tight lid and bake in the oven at 300°F (150°C) for 1-2 hours.

Thicken and enrich

For thickening, mix boiled flour or arrow-root into the broth.
For added richness, beat the egg yolk in a cup and pour the hot broth over it.

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.

Shallot + flourtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,081 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Beef + shallottop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,103 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Shallot + eggtop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,380 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Beef + flourtop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together10,677 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Beef: Provides the meat flavor and gelatin that give the broth body as it cooks.
Boiled flour or arrow-root: Thickens the broth so it feels fuller and less watery.
Egg yolk: Adds richness and a smoother, silkier mouthfeel to the broth.