Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Beefsteak Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the filling
Cut the beef into thin slices, about 3 inches long and wide.
Mix the flour, salt, and pepper on a plate.
Dip the meat slices in the mixture.
Place the meat in a pie dish, ensuring it is raised in the center.
Sprinkle the remaining seasoning between the layers of meat.
Add enough boiling water to fill the dish.
Top and decorate
Roll out the pastry to a suitable thickness.
Invert a pie dish of the same size onto the pastry and cut around it, leaving a ½ inch margin.
Line the edge of the dish with pastry trimmings.
Place the cover on the meat, moisten and press the edges together.
Notch the edges at intervals.
Make a hole in the center of the top.
Decorate with leaves.
Brush the top with the egg yolk.
Bake and serve
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) until the pastry rises and sets.
Reduce the temperature and cook slowly for about 2 hours.
Before serving, pour in beef gravy or hot water seasoned with salt and pepper through the hole in the top.
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 + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Beef + flourtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,677 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Beef + eggtop 31% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Beef steak
- Provides the main meat, which becomes tender during the long slow cooking.
- Flour
- Coats the meat and helps thicken the juices released during baking.
- Puff pastry or short crust pastry
- Forms the crust that rises and sets over the filling.
- Egg yolk
- Brushed on top to give the pastry a golden, glossy browning.
The step that matters
Bake in a hot oven, then reduce the temperature. The hot start makes the pastry rise and set before it can become soggy, while the lower temperature for the long slow cook softens the beef without drying or toughening it.
“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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