Why it works: Pepper and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓
Modern Cookery
Ingredients
Directions
Boil water slowly and press it under a heavy weight while hot.
Trim the edges of the beef slice.
Rub ¾ lb of coarse sugar into the meat at first.
Mix saltpetre, coarse sugar, bay salt, common salt, and pepper.
Let the mixture sit for 4 days.
If using, add treacle and let it sit for 14 days.
Optionally, add cloves and mace in the same proportion as for spiced beef.
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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Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Clove + macetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,400 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
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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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Pepper + macetop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,257 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Beef + clovetop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,462 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Pepper and mace barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,257 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the clove
The recipe marks clove as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, sugar, pepper, mace):
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Clovethe original
- Allspicefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, sugar, pepper, mace. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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