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Beef & Beer Pie

A steak and ale pie is a comforting classic - this version has suet pastry and a dark rich gravy

By bbcgoodfood · From Open Recipes · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and beer match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and 414 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-methyl-3-(methyldithio)furan, which smells thiamin, meat. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat, soy, fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Step-by-step directions aren't available for this recipe. See the full recipe at the source →

By bbcgoodfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Beef + beertop 6% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together414 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methyl-3-(methyldithio)furan (thiamin, meat).

  2. Celery + thymetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together3,188 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Onion + beeftop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together17,091 recipes

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

  4. Onion + celerytop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together18,506 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Thyme + beertop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together155 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, butter, flour, beef, sauce, thyme, beer):

  1. Garlicabout as good a flavor fit
  2. Marjoramabout as good a flavor fit
  3. Parsleyabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Celerythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, butter, flour, beef, sauce, thyme, beer. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).