Name: Beefsteaks
Ingredients: rump beefsteaks; minced shallot; 1 tablespoon ketchup; butter; coarse sea salt; black pepper

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

Cut beefsteaks from a rump that has hung for a few days.
Broil the steaks over a clear or charcoal fire.
In a dish, combine minced shallot and ketchup.
Rub butter on the steak just before serving.
Turn the steak often to keep the juices in.
Add salt and pepper when removing from the fire.
Serve immediately for best flavor.

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.

Shallot + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,898 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Shallot + ketchuptop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together476 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Shallot + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,426 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together85,593 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ketchup + buttertop 24% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,784 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).