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Broiled Ox-tail

Broiled ox-tail served with gravy, bread crumbs, and optional stewed cabbage or tomato sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Broiled Ox-tail

Ingredients

Directions

Parboil

  1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

  2. Simmer the ox-tail for 15 minutes.

  3. Remove the ox-tail from the pot.

  4. Place the ox-tail in fresh water to cool.

  5. Wipe the ox-tail.

Braise in gravy

  1. Place the ox-tail in a small stewpan without cutting it.

  2. Cover the ox-tail with beef gravy.

  3. Simmer gently until very tender.

  4. Drain the ox-tail slightly.

Coat and broil

  1. Sprinkle with salt and cayenne pepper.

  2. Dip the ox-tail in clarified butter.

  3. Coat it thickly with bread crumbs.

  4. Grill the ox-tail until evenly browned.

  5. Alternatively, place it in the oven until properly colored.

  6. Serve immediately.

  7. Alternatively, dish it on stewed cabbage.

  8. Alternatively, serve it in its own thickened gravy with tomato sauce.

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. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

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

  3. Beef + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  4. Pepper + breadtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,964 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

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

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Ox-tail
Main meat; long gentle simmering breaks down connective tissue until tender.
Beef gravy
Liquid that keeps the ox-tail moist and flavorful during the slow simmer.
Clarified butter
Fat that carries the seasoning and helps the bread crumbs brown evenly.
Fine bread crumbs
Coating that forms a crisp, browned crust when grilled or baked.

The step that matters

Simmer gently until very tender. Vigorous boiling toughens and breaks up meat fibers, while a gentle simmer lets collagen slowly soften into tender meat without falling apart. Keeping the heat low gives a clean, intact piece for the coating and browning.

“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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