Why it works: Beef and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,232 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Fillet of Beef
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Trim the fillet carefully, removing any gristly skin and excess fat.
Round off the ends to create a neat piece of meat.
Lard the fillet as needed.
Roast and serve
Place the fillet in a dripping pan on a wire rack and add beef fat for basting.
Cook in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for 30 to 45 minutes, depending on size.
Serve with brown mushroom sauce.
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 + mushroomtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,232 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Mushroom + saucetop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,480 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Beef + saucetop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,650 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
- Beef fillet
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooking to a tender, juicy centre when roasted whole.
- Beef fat
- Bastes the surface during roasting, adding moisture and helping the outside brown.
The step that matters
Cook in a hot oven for 30 to 45 minutes, depending on size. A hot oven browns the outside quickly while the centre stays tender. Cooking too long dries out the lean meat, so size determines the timing and a thermometer helps confirm doneness.
“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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