Name: To Prv Beep-steaks
Ingredients: steaks for broiling; hot water; pepper; coarse sea salt; ketchup; flour; onions

Why it works: Pepper and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 68,474 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

To Prv Beep-steaks

Ingredients

Directions

Cut the steaks for broiling and place them in a pan.
Shift and turn the steaks frequently until browned all over.
Transfer the finished steaks to a hot dish.
Pour a little hot water into the pan after removing the steaks.
Add the fat, pepper, coarse sea salt, ketchup, and flour to the hot water to make gravy.
Pour the gravy over the steaks in the dish.
If desired, slice the onions thinly and fry them in some of the remaining fat until soft.
Serve immediately.

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.

Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ketchup + flourtop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,435 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together32,460 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together50,459 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ketchup + oniontop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,997 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).