Why it works: Pepper and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,015 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
To Malce a Pasty of Beef or Juxton
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the meat
Bone a small rump or piece of sirloin of beef, or a fat loin of mutton after hanging several days.
Beat the meat well with a rolling pin.
Rub the meat with sugar.
Pour port wine and vinegar over the meat.
Let it sit for five days and nights.
Wash and dry the meat.
Season and bake
Season the meat with pepper, Jamaica pepper, nutmeg, and coarse sea salt.
Place the meat in a dish and spread butter over it.
Cover with a crust around the edges and a thick top crust.
Bake in a slow oven (300°F / 150°C).
Make the gravy
Set the bones in a pan with just enough water to cover them.
Add port, pepper, and coarse sea salt to the pan for gravy.
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 + 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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Port wine + vinegartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together598 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
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Port wine + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,499 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Beef + port winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together626 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef or mutton
- Forms the main body of the pasty, becoming tender during the long cure and slow bake.
- Sugar
- Rubbed into the meat to add sweetness and balance the sharp vinegar and wine.
- Port wine
- Adds acidity and depth of flavour while helping to tenderise the meat during the long soak.
- Vinegar
- Acidic marinade that helps soften the meat fibres over the five-day rest.
- Butter
- Spread over the meat to add richness and moisture during baking.
The step that matters
Letting the meat sit for five days. The marinade of sugar, port and vinegar must penetrate and soften the meat slowly. Rinsing and drying afterwards removes surface liquid, so the pasty bakes rather than steams.
Swap the nutmeg
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, sugar, port wine, vinegar, butter, pepper):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Clovefits about as well
- Nutmegthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, sugar, port wine, vinegar, butter, pepper. 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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