Name: A Cheaper Gravy
Ingredients: bullocks' or sheep's melts; 2 tablespoons butter; 3 onions; ¼ teaspoon allspice

Why it works: Onion and allspice are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,270 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

A Cheaper Gravy

Ingredients

bullocks' or sheep's melts
2 tablespoons butter
3 onions
¼ teaspoon allspice

Directions

Cut the melts into small pieces.
In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat, then add the melts, onions, and allspice to the saucepan.
Shake everything together until well combined.

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.

Onion + allspicetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,270 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together42,912 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter + allspicetop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,325 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

Bullocks' or sheep's melts: Forms the main body of the gravy and gives it its meaty flavor.
Butter: Adds richness and carries flavor as it melts into the pan.
Onions: Add sweetness and savory depth as they soften in the fat.
Allspice: Adds a warm, aromatic note that rounds out the meat flavor.