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 ↓
Cooked Meat for Mince Pies
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash the beef and place it in a kettle.
Add enough water to cover the beef.
Cook
Skim off any scum as it reaches boiling point.
Add hot water as needed until the beef is tender.
Season with coarse sea salt and black pepper.
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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lean beef
- Forms the main body of the filling, becoming tender as it cooks slowly in water.
The step that matters
Skim off the scum as it reaches boiling point. Scum is coagulated protein and impurities rising to the surface. Removing it early keeps the cooking liquid clear and the flavour clean.
“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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