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Gravy, Beef Gravy

A savory beef gravy made with shin, onion, carrot, parsley, herbs, butter, spices, and water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,053 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Gravy, Beef Gravy

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the meat into very small pieces.

  2. Slice the onion and carrot, and place them in a small saucepan with the butter.

  3. Stir over medium heat until they take on a little color.

Simmer and finish

  1. Add the water and remaining ingredients.

  2. Simmer for 30 minutes, skim well, strain, and adjust seasoning before serving.

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.

  1. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Beef + carrottop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,606 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Shin of beef
Provides the meat flavour and body that gives the gravy its richness.
Butter
Carries the flavour of the onion and carrot and adds richness as they colour.
Onion
Adds savoury sweetness and depth as it softens and browns in the butter.
Carrot
Adds gentle sweetness and body to the liquid as it cooks down.

The step that matters

Stirring the onion and carrot over medium heat. Browning the vegetables in butter develops deeper savoury flavour, but too much heat can scorch them and leave a bitter taste that carries into the gravy.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, onion, carrot, parsley, butter):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Celeryfits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, onion, carrot, parsley, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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