Why it works: Flour and ketchup are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,435 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Hash
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the sauce
Cut the meat into thin slices.
Melt the dripping in a small saucepan.
Remove from heat, add the flour, and mix well.
Gradually pour in the pot liquor or cold water, stirring until smooth.
Add the ketchup, vinegar, pepper, and salt; stir over heat until it boils for three minutes.
Remove from heat and let the sauce cool; take out the sprig of herb.
Cook and serve
Place the meat in the sauce and simmer gently for about ten minutes without boiling.
Serve hot with toasted bread.
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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Flour + ketchuptop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,435 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Meat + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,777 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Ketchup + vinegartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together737 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cold meat
- Forms the body of the dish, cooked gently in the sauce until tender.
- Flour
- Thickens the sauce when mixed with the melted dripping and liquid.
- Dripping
- Adds fat and rich flavour, and carries the flour so it blends smoothly.
- Ketchup
- Adds sweetness, acidity and colour to the sauce.
- Vinegar
- Adds sharpness that balances the sweetness of the ketchup.
The step that matters
Simmer without boiling. Boiling toughens the meat and can make the thickened sauce separate or catch on the pan. Keeping it at a gentle simmer keeps the meat tender and the sauce smooth.
“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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