Why it works: Sauce and ketchup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,099 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Hot-pot
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the filling
Cut the steak into 3-inch square pieces.
Season the pieces with salt and pepper, then roll each piece.
Place the rolls in the bottom of a deep pie dish.
Pour Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and stock over them.
Make the pastry
In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and a little salt.
Gradually knead in cold water to form a light dough.
Roll out the dough as thin as possible.
Divide the butter into three pieces and spread one piece on the dough.
Fold the dough into three layers, roll out again, and repeat with the remaining butter.
Roll the dough to a size slightly larger than the pie dish and ½ inch thick.
Assemble and bake
Wet the top of the pie dish with cold water.
Cut narrow strips from the dough to line the edge.
Cover the pie with the remaining dough, pressing the edges together.
Cut a hole in the top for steam to escape.
Brush the pie with egg or milk.
Arrange cut-off crust pieces decoratively over the hole.
Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 300°F (150°C) and bake for 1 hour longer.
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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Sauce + ketchuptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,099 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + ketchuptop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,435 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + saucetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,078 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Flour
- Forms the dough structure that holds the layers together and crisps when baked.
- Butter
- Folded into the dough in layers, it creates flaky separation as it melts during baking.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the dough, helping it rise and lighten as it bakes.
- Steak
- Provides the meat filling, which becomes tender during the long, slow bake.
The step that matters
Rolling and folding the butter into the dough. Butter must stay in distinct layers rather than blending into the flour. Cold, separate pieces of fat melt during baking and leave steam pockets, which give the pastry its flaky texture. Overworking the dough or letting the butter soften can blur these layers.
“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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