Why it works: Pepper and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓
Beef-steak Pot
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the beef
Mince the beef steak and season with salt and pepper.
Place the minced beef in an earthenware jar with cloves and bacon.
Mix water and vinegar, then pour over the beef.
Bake and serve
Cover the jar and bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for about three hours.
Remove the meat and place it on a dish.
Mix walnut ketchup with the gravy, pour over the meat, and serve.
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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Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Clove + walnuttop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,592 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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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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Pepper + walnuttop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,039 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef steak
- Provides the meat that becomes tender during long, slow cooking.
- Vinegar
- Acidity helps break down tough meat fibres during the long soak and bake.
- Bacon
- Its fat adds moisture and savoury flavour to the meat as it cooks.
- Walnut ketchup
- Adds a dark, savoury, tangy flavour to the finished gravy.
The step that matters
Bake covered in a slow oven. Slow, covered baking at a low steady heat lets tough collagen in the beef soften into tender meat without drying it out. Too high a heat toughens the muscle fibres and dries the surface.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper, clove, vinegar, ketchup):
- Beansfits about as well
- Walnutthe original
- Sesamefits about as well
- Chestnutfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, clove, vinegar, ketchup. 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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