Why it works: Clove and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,686 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
To Corn Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the beef
Remove the bone from the beef.
Rub the beef with common salt.
Let the beef sit for 1-2 days.
Cure
Mix the sal-prunella, brown sugar, black pepper, coarse sea salt, cloves, and nutmeg together.
Rub the mixture into the beef thoroughly.
Let the beef sit for 14 days, turning it daily.
Hang the beef in a dry place.
Smoke the beef if possible.
Cook and serve
When ready to use, boil gently or bake in a deep dish covered with coarse pastry.
For stewing, add just enough water to barely cover the meat and simmer for 4-6 hours.
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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Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,686 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together13,015 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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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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Beef + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,495 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef
- Forms the main body of the dish, becoming tender and savoury through curing and slow cooking.
- Common salt
- Draws out moisture and seasons the meat during the initial rub, helping preserve it.
- Sal-prunella
- Adds saltpetre-based curing action that helps keep the meat pink and firm.
- Brown sugar
- Balances the saltiness and adds mild sweetness to the cure.
- Black pepper
- Adds pungent aroma and flavour to the cured crust.
- Cloves
- Contribute warm, aromatic flavour to the cure.
The step that matters
Curing for 14 days with daily turning. Salt and cure must penetrate evenly through the thick cut; turning daily keeps every surface in contact with the mixture, so the meat cures uniformly rather than spoiling or staying uneven in the centre.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, sugar, pepper, nutmeg):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Allspicefits about as well
- Clovethe original
- Cardamomfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, sugar, pepper, nutmeg. 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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