Name: Fillet of Beef {Filet De Bceuf Pique, a LA Broche}
Ingredients: 1 fillet of beef; olive oil; coarse sea salt; black pepper; sliced onions; bay leaves

Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Fillet of Beef {Filet De Bceuf Pique, a LA Broche}

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Remove the fibrous skin and small nerves from the fillet without damaging its appearance.
Trim the fillet to a thickness of about 2 fingers and oil it evenly.

Marinate and skewer

Marinate the fillet by pouring olive oil, salt, pepper, sliced onions, and bay leaves over it.
After marinating, skewer the fillet in a shape of your choice (serpent, gimblet, or horse‑shoe).

Roast and serve

Roast the fillet over a brisk fire until cooked to your liking.
Serve with a sauce such as hachee or poivrade.

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.

Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Olive + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together29,779 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,971 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Olive + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together30,263 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef fillet: Is the main cut, whose tender meat is cooked whole over the fire.
Olive oil: Coats the surface and carries the seasonings, helping the meat brown and stay moist.
Sliced onions: Add aroma and flavour to the marinade as the fillet rests in it.

The step that matters

Roast over a brisk fire until cooked to your liking. A fillet is lean and cooks quickly, so overcooking dries it out. A hot fire browns the outside while the inside stays tender, so checking doneness as it roasts matters.

Swap the onion

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

Tomatofits better
Capsicumfits better
Potatofits about as well
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, olive, 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.

Roast Beef211 recipes

Beef Loaf175 recipes

Corned Beef87 recipes

Beef Broth67 recipes

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.

Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.

Fillet of Beef {Filet De Bceuf Pique, a LA Broche}