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Sirloin of Beef

A boiled sirloin of beef that is then seasoned and fried.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Sirloin of Beef

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the beef

  1. Divide the sirloin into three parts and bone it nicely.

Simmer

  1. In a pot, combine water, bay leaf, roasted onions, cloves, and allspice.

  2. Add the sirloin and simmer until tender.

  3. Remove the beef, drain it well, and set aside.

Fry

  1. Season and dredge the beef with salt and pepper.

  2. In a stew pan, heat butter and add the beef to fry.

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. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Allspice + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

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

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

Sirloin of beef
Main protein; simmering softens its connective tissue until tender.
Butter
Fat for frying, adding richness and browning the beef's surface.
Onions
Roasted until brown, they add colour and a deeper, sweet-savoury aroma to the cooking liquid.

The step that matters

Simmer until tender. Simmering slowly breaks down connective tissue in the sirloin. Stopping too early leaves the meat tough, and boiling hard can toughen the proteins, so keep the liquid at a gentle simmer.

Swap the onion

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

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, clove, allspice, 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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