Why it works: Garlic and onion match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓
Steaks
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut steaks from the rump or ribs, ensuring they are ½ to 1 inch thick.
Beat the steaks lightly with a rolling pin to tenderize.
Cook
Preheat a clean gridiron over a very clear fire until hot.
Place the steaks on the gridiron using meat tongs, turning constantly until cooked to your preference.
Sprinkle a little coarse sea salt over the steaks before removing from heat.
Serve
Serve immediately with plain gravy and sliced onions, either raw or fried, or rub a little butter over the steaks just before serving.
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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Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together29,058 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + garlictop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,572 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Steaks
- Provide the main protein; beating lightly helps tenderize the meat before cooking.
- Butter or ghee
- Adds fat and richness, carrying flavour over the hot steak surface.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the surface of the steak and enhances its savoury flavour.
The step that matters
Turning the steaks constantly on the hot gridiron. Constant turning over a very hot, clean surface keeps the meat from charring before the interior cooks. Frequent turning also promotes even heat distribution, helping the steak cook evenly to the desired doneness.
“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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