Why it works: Ginger and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,564 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
To Roast Sirloin, or Ribs of Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the joint
Hang the joint until it is perfectly sweet.
Remove the marrow spine from the backbone and cut out the kernels from the fat.
In warm weather, guard the meat from flies and wipe away any moisture.
Dust the joint with powdered ginger or pepper.
Trim the ends of the bones if the joint is not too large; salt them for a few days and then boil.
Roast
Spit the beef firmly and place it near the fire to firm the surface.
Move the beef away from the fire to allow heat to penetrate the interior.
Baste the beef constantly while roasting.
For the last half hour, move the beef closer to the fire to brown it well.
If desired, dredge the beef with flour at the start and sprinkle with fine salt near the end.
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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Ginger + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,564 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Beef + gingertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,410 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + flourtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,677 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Beef and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,677 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 joint
- Forms the main body of the roast, and its fat and connective tissue supply moisture and flavour as it cooks.
- Flour
- Dusted on at the start, it helps form a surface that browns during roasting.
- Powdered ginger or pepper
- Adds aroma and warm, spicy flavour to the outside of the joint.
The step that matters
Moving the beef between near and far heat. Firming the surface close to the fire, then moving it away, lets the interior cook through without the outside burning. Finishing close to the fire browns the surface. Skipping the move away can leave the outside overcooked and the centre underdone.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, flour):
- Jalapenofits better
- Turmericfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, flour. 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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