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 ↓
Meat Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the meat
Cut the meat into squares or slices and roll as for a meat pie, then dip into the seasoning.
Place the meat in a basin or pie dish and pour the boiling water over it to close the pores. Let it cool while making the paste.
Make the paste and assemble
Grease a 1-pint basin.
Cut off a portion of the paste and form the larger piece into a ball. Roll it out to twice the size of the top of the basin and line the basin with it.
Add the meat and water into the lined basin.
Form the smaller piece of paste into a ball. Roll it out to the desired size for the top. Wet the edge of the lining. Cover it. Press the edges together.
Steam or boil
Steam or boil for 2 to 4 hours.
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.
-
Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Beef + flourtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,677 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Beef and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,677 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef steak or skirt steak
- Provides the main meat, which becomes tender during long gentle cooking.
- Kidney
- Adds a rich, strongly savoury flavour to the filling.
- Leg of beef
- Adds more beef flavour and body to the filling.
- Flour
- Lightly thickens the cooking liquid so it forms a gravy around the meat.
- Suet
- Makes the paste rich and tender, keeping it moist during steaming.
The step that matters
Pour the boiling water over the meat and let it cool before adding the paste. Boiling water seals the surface of the meat, helping it keep its juices. Letting it cool before covering prevents the paste from turning soggy and heavy from the steam and heat.
“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.
More meat pudding recipes
You might also like
Roast Beef211 recipes
Beef Loaf175 recipes
Corned Beef87 recipes
Beef Broth67 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.