Why it works: Pepper and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,015 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
To Make a Pasty of Beef or Mutton
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the meat
Bone a small rump or piece of sirloin of beef, or a fat loin of mutton, after hanging for several days.
Beat the meat well with a rolling pin.
Rub the meat with sugar and pour over the port and vinegar.
Let it marinate for five days and nights.
Wash and dry the meat thoroughly, then season it with pepper, Jamaica pepper, nutmeg, and salt.
Assemble and bake
Place the meat in a dish and spread butter over it.
Cover the edges with a crust and top with a thick crust.
Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C).
Make the gravy
Set the bones in a pan with just enough water to cover them, add port, pepper, and salt, and bake to create gravy.
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 + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Port wine + vinegartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together598 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
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Port wine + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,499 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Beef + port winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together626 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef or mutton
- Forms the main body of the pasty, becoming tender during the long slow bake.
- Sugar
- Rubbed into the meat with the marinade to add sweetness and balance the vinegar's acidity.
- Port wine
- Marinade liquid that adds flavor and aroma to the meat and the gravy.
- Vinegar
- Acid in the marinade that helps tenderize and flavor the meat.
- Butter
- Spread over the meat to add richness and moisture during baking.
The step that matters
Marinating the meat for five days and nights. Acid from the vinegar works slowly on the meat's fibers over days, so the marinade must be left the full time for even tenderness and flavor. Cutting the time short leaves the meat tougher and less seasoned.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, sugar, port wine, vinegar, butter, pepper):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Clovefits about as well
- Nutmegthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, sugar, port wine, vinegar, butter, 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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