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Clear Gravy

A clear beef gravy made by broiling beef, simmering with onions, cloves, peppercorns, allspice, sweet herbs, and hot water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 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 ↓

Clear Gravy

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Broil a portion of the beef over a clear, quick fire to color it, but do not cook it fully.

  2. Combine the broiled and raw beef in a tinned stewpan with onions, cloves, peppercorns, allspice, and sweet herbs.

  3. Cover with hot water, bring to a boil, and skim off any foam two or three times.

  4. Cover and simmer until the gravy is strong and flavorful.

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

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

  3. Onion + clovetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together16,901 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  4. Onion + allspicetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,270 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Beef + clovetop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef
Provides the meat flavor and body of the gravy as it simmers in the water.
Onions
Add sweetness and savory depth to the stock as they cook down.
Cloves
Contribute a warm, aromatic flavor to the gravy.
Allspice berries
Add a warm, aromatic spice note that rounds out the gravy.

The step that matters

Skimming the foam. Foam is coagulated protein and impurities that cloud the liquid and can taste bitter. Skimming it during the first boil keeps the gravy clear and clean-flavored.

Swap the onion

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

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

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