Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Beef Sausages
Ingredients
Directions
Use good lean beef, free from gristle and sinew.
Mix the beef with the fat or suet and breadcrumbs.
Season the mixture with salt, black pepper, cayenne, and shallot if using.
Stuff the mixture into sausage casings, tie them off, and twist into shape.
Cook as desired.
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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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + shallottop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,898 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Beef + shallottop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,103 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the shallot
The recipe marks shallot as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Tomatofits better
- Carrotfits better
- Shallotthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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