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Beefsteaks

Beefsteaks grilled over fire with shallot, ketchup, butter, salt, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Shallot and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,898 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Beefsteaks

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare and cook

  1. Cut beefsteaks from a well-hung rump.

  2. Broil over a clear or charcoal fire, turning often.

  3. Season with salt and pepper when removing from the fire.

Finish and serve

  1. Add minced shallot and ketchup to the dish.

  2. Rub butter on the steak just before serving.

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. Shallot + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,898 recipes

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

  2. Shallot + ketchuptop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together476 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Shallot + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,426 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Ketchup + buttertop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,784 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Rump beefsteaks
Provides the main meat, whose texture is set by searing over direct heat.
Butter
Adds richness and a glossy coating that carries flavour across the steak.
Minced shallot
Adds a mild, sharp aromatic note to the sauce in the dish.
Ketchup
Adds sweetness and acidity that balance the savoury beef.

The step that matters

Turning the steak often under the broiler. Frequent turning spreads heat evenly and limits charring on one side, so the meat cooks through without burning on the outside.

Swap the shallot

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

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Shallotthe original
  3. Carrotfits about as well
  4. Horseradishfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against ketchup, 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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