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Dutch Beef, or Hung Beef

A preserved beef cured with sugar, salt, saltpetre, spices, and smoked.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,395 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Dutch Beef, or Hung Beef

Ingredients

Directions

Cure the beef

  1. Hang the beef for 3 to 4 days if the weather allows.

  2. Rub the beef dry with 1 pound of coarse sugar 2 to 3 times a day for 3 to 4 days.

  3. Once the sugar has penetrated, wipe the beef dry.

  4. Mix 4 ounces of common salt, 4 ounces of coarse sea salt, 2 ounces of saltpetre, 2 ounces of sal prunel, 1 ounce of black pepper, and 1 ounce of allspice.

  5. Rub the mixture into the beef well.

  6. Continue rubbing for 2 weeks.

Shape, smoke and serve

  1. Roll the beef tightly.

  2. Sew it in coarse cloth.

  3. Smoke it.

  4. Boil a piece of the beef.

  5. Press it with a weight until cold.

  6. Pull it into strings.

  7. Grate it for sandwiches.

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. Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

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

  3. Beef + allspicetop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,940 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Sugar + allspicetop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,938 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  5. Sugar + peppertop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together19,401 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Sugar and pepper barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,401 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
Forms the main body of the dish, which becomes firm and sliceable after curing and pressing.
Coarse sugar
Adds sweetness and draws moisture out of the meat during the dry rub.
Common salt
Draws out moisture and seasons the meat, helping it cure and firm up.
Saltpetre
Helps the meat keep its pink color and adds a cured flavor during long curing.

The step that matters

Rubbing the cure in for 2 weeks. The salt and sugar mixture must penetrate evenly through the thick beef. Uneven or short rubbing leaves spoiled or under-cured areas, while the salt draws moisture out so the meat firms as it cures.

Swap the allspice

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

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Rosemaryfits about as well
  3. Nutmegfits about as well
  4. Allspicethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, sugar, 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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