Why it works: Beef and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,232 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
To Broil Beef Steaks
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Trim the steaks and divide them if very large.
Preheat the grill until hot but not burning.
Wipe the grill with fresh mutton suet.
Season the steaks lightly with pepper, but do not add salt yet.
Grill and serve
Place the steaks on the grill and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, turning once.
Catch any juices that drain from the steaks in a dish.
Serve immediately on hot plates.
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 + mushroomtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,232 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Mushroom + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + muttontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,373 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Pepper + mushroomtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef steaks
- Tender rump provides the main meat; thickness controls how evenly the steaks cook through.
- Fresh mutton suet
- Greases the grill so the steaks do not stick and the surface can brown.
The step that matters
Preheat the grill until hot but not burning. A very hot grill sears the outside quickly, browning the surface and sealing in juices. If the grill is too cool the steaks steam and turn grey, and if it burns the outside becomes bitter before the inside is cooked.
“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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