Name: To Warm Up Cold Rump-steaks
Ingredients: 1 large onion, quartered; 6 berries of allspice; 6 berries of black pepper; boiling water; salt

Why it works: Allspice and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,395 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

To Warm Up Cold Rump-steaks

Ingredients

Directions

Place the steaks in a stew pan with the onion, allspice, and black pepper.
Cover the steaks with boiling water and let them simmer until tender.
Ensure the steaks are cut evenly and about 6 inches long, 4 inches wide, and ½ inch thick.
Prepare a clear brisk fire and sprinkle a little salt on it.
Heat the gridiron slanting to prevent fat from dripping into the fire.
Cook the steaks to your desired doneness, asking your guests for their preference.

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.

Allspice + peppertop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,395 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,270 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).