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The Dutch Way to Salt Beef

A method of curing beef with treacle, salt, and optional saltpetre, involving rubbing, drying, and boiling.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 37% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,435 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

The Dutch Way to Salt Beef

Ingredients

Directions

Cure

  1. Rub the beef well with treacle or brown sugar, turning it often.

  2. After three days, wipe the beef and rub it with coarse sea salt and saltpetre.

  3. Turn the beef every day for a fortnight.

Press and smoke

  1. Roll the beef tightly in a coarse cloth and press it under a heavy weight.

  2. Hang the beef to dry in wood smoke, turning it upside down every day.

Cook

  1. Boil the beef in pump water and press it.

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. Beef + sugartop 37% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,435 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef
The main cut that the cure seasons, firms and preserves over the long curing period.
Treacle or brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture to the surface, balancing the harshness of the salt.
Coarse sea salt
Draws out moisture and seasons the meat deeply, which is what preserves it.
Saltpetre
Helps the cured meat keep a pink colour and adds to its preservation.

The step that matters

Turning the beef every day during the fortnight cure. Salt and sugar penetrate the meat slowly, and turning it keeps the brine and cure spread evenly so no area is under-seasoned or spoils.

“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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