Why it works: Pepper and cabbage are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,081 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Modern Cookery
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Sprinkle a small quantity of salt and cayenne pepper over the ox-tail.
Dip the ox-tail into clarified butter, then coat it thickly with fine bread crumbs.
Cook and serve
Place the ox-tail on a grill and cook until evenly browned.
Alternatively, cook the ox-tail in the oven at 400°F (200°C) until properly colored.
Serve the ox-tail immediately, either on stewed cabbage or in its own thickened gravy with tomato sauce.
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 + cabbagetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,081 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Bread + tomatotop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,013 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Cabbage + tomatotop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together333 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
- Ox-tail
- Is the main meat that is coated, browned and served.
- Clarified butter
- Carries the bread crumbs and helps the coating brown during cooking.
- Fine bread crumbs
- Form a thick crust that browns and adds a crisp texture.
- Tomato sauce
- Adds acidity and savory flavor to the served dish.
The step that matters
Coating with bread crumbs. The crumbs must be pressed on thickly and evenly after dipping in butter. A thin or patchy coat can scorch in spots or leave bare meat that dries out, so the browning will be uneven.
Swap the cabbage
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, butter, bread, tomato, sauce):
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatofits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Cabbagethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, butter, bread, tomato, sauce. 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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