Why it works: Carrot and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,555 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Beef Rolls or Olives
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the rolls
Remove all fat from the meat and cut it into very thin slices about 4 inches long and 2 inches wide.
Flatten the slices with a wet rolling pin.
Spread a little forcemeat on each slice of meat, roll them up lightly, and tie securely with twine.
Brown and make the sauce
Heat the butter in a stewpan and fry the rolls until their entire surface is lightly browned, then remove them from the pan.
Add the carrot and onion to the pan, fry quickly for 3 to 4 minutes, then sprinkle in the flour and fry until brown.
Pour in the stock and stir until boiling.
Simmer and serve
Replace the rolls in the stewpan, add salt and pepper, cover with greased paper and the lid, and simmer slowly for 1½ hours.
Remove the strings, serve the rolls on a bed of mashed potatoes, season the sauce to taste, and strain it over the rolls.
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.
-
Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,555 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21,601 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + carrottop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,029 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
What each ingredient does
- Rump steak
- Forms the main body of the rolls and becomes tender during slow simmering.
- Veal forcemeat
- Adds moisture and richness inside the rolls as they cook.
- Butter
- Fat for frying that promotes browning on the outside of the rolls.
- Flour
- Browned with the fat and vegetables to thicken and colour the sauce.
- Stock
- Liquid that braises the rolls and forms the base of the sauce.
The step that matters
Browning the rolls before simmering. Frying the whole surface until lightly browned builds colour and savoury flavour through the Maillard reaction, which a slow simmer alone cannot provide. Pat them dry first so they brown rather than steam.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, butter, flour, carrot, pepper):
- Parsnipfits better
- Leekfits better
- Turnipfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, butter, flour, carrot, pepper. 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.
You might also like
Carrot Soup134 recipes
Veal Patties50 recipes
Beef, Mutton, or Veal Broth6 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.