Name: Beef Steak Pudding
Ingredients: lean beef from the under part of the sirloin; oysters, gills removed; slices of fat (e.g., beef fat); veal suet

Why it works: Beef and veal are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,784 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓

Beef Steak Pudding

Ingredients

lean beef from the under part of the sirloin
oysters, gills removed
slices of fat (e.g., beef fat)
veal suet

Directions

Cut slices of lean beef from the under part of the sirloin.
Layer oysters, slices of beef, and slices of fat alternately in a basin.
Make a paste using veal suet instead of butter.
Cover the basin with a cloth tied close and boil slowly for two hours.

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.

Beef + vealtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,784 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Oyster + vealtop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together988 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Beef + oystertop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together798 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).