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Beef Patte

A steamed beef roll coated in cracker crumbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and thyme are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,585 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Beef Patte

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the beef roll

  1. In a bowl, combine chopped beef, pepper, thyme, salt, eggs, and butter.

  2. Shape the mixture into a roll and cover it thoroughly with cracker crumbs.

Steam and cook

  1. Place 1 cup of water in a dripping pan and set two sticks crosswise in the pan.

  2. Set another pan containing the beef roll on top of the sticks.

  3. Replenish the water as needed to allow steam to assist in cooking.

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. Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Beef + thymetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,051 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  4. Beef + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,847 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  5. Thyme + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,758 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 bulk of the paté and gives it its meaty body and flavour.
Eggs
Bind the chopped beef so the roll holds together when cooked.
Rolled crackers
Coat the outside of the roll and help absorb moisture for a firmer exterior.
Butter
Adds fat, which keeps the cooked paté moist and tender.

The step that matters

Replenish the water in the dripping pan. Steam from the water under the beef roll cooks it gently and keeps it moist. If the water runs dry, the pan can scorch and the paté can dry out and cook unevenly.

Swap the thyme

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper, egg, butter):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Nutmegfits about as well
  4. Thymethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, egg, butter. 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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