Why it works: Beef and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 37% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,435 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
The Dutch Way to Salt Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Cure the beef
Rub the beef well with treacle or brown sugar, turning it often for three days.
After three days, wipe the beef and rub it with coarse sea salt and saltpetre, turning it daily for two weeks.
Roll the beef tightly in a coarse cloth and press it under a heavy weight.
Smoke and cook
Hang the beef to dry in wood smoke, turning it upside down every day.
Boil the beef in pump water and press it; it will then be ready to grate or cut into shivers.
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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Beef + sugartop 37% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,435 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef
- Is the main cut that is cured, smoked and then boiled until firm enough to grate or slice.
- Treacle or brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture to the surface during the first curing stage.
- Coarse sea salt
- Draws out moisture and seasons the meat during the long cure.
- Saltpetre
- Helps preserve the meat's pink colour during curing.
The step that matters
Pressing the beef tightly in cloth under weight. Firm, even pressing squeezes out moisture and helps the meat hold a dense, uniform texture so it can be grated or cut into shivers later.
“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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