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Baked Beef

A seasoned rump of beef baked slowly after larding and suet coating.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Allspice and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Baked Beef

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the beef

  1. Rub the beef with black pepper, allspice, ground cloves, and ground mace.

  2. Hang the beef to dry for 2 to 3 weeks, renewing the seasoning occasionally.

  3. Wash off the spices with port wine.

  4. Lard the meat by inserting large pieces of lard in various parts.

Wrap and bake

  1. Place shredded suet under and over the meat.

  2. Cover the meat with a paste made of coarse flour and water.

  3. Optionally add bay leaves or sweet herbs.

  4. Bake in a moderately heated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 6 to 8 hours, depending on size.

Serve

  1. If serving hot, remove the dough, bay leaves, and suet.

  2. Baste the joint, sprinkle with salt and flour, and pass a salamander over it.

  3. If serving cold, leave the dough on until needed.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Clove + macetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  5. Allspice + macetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Rump of beef
Is the main cut that is slowly cooked to become tender and juicy.
Black pepper
Seasons the meat with sharp, warm flavour during the long dry rest.
Allspice
Adds warm, aromatic flavour that penetrates the meat during the long dry rest.
Lard
Adds fat inside the meat, keeping it moist and rich during the long bake.
Suet
Adds fat over and under the joint, helping keep it moist as it cooks.
Coarse flour
Forms a protective paste crust that seals in moisture during baking.

The step that matters

Baking time at the set oven temperature. Rump is a large, dense cut, and long, gentle heat lets connective tissue break down into tender meat. Too short a time leaves it tough, while checking size keeps the joint from overcooking and drying out.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper, allspice, clove, port wine, meat, flour):

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Cinnamonfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, allspice, clove, port wine, meat, flour. 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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