Why it works: Shallot and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,982 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Rump-steak Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the steak
Cut the rump steak into pieces half the size of your hand and trim off all skin and sinews.
Beat the steak pieces with a chopper until tender.
Layer and bake
Mix the chopped shallots with the pepper and salt mixture.
Strew some of the mixture at the bottom of a baking dish.
Layer the steak pieces on top, adding more of the mixture between layers until the dish is full.
Add the mushroom ketchup and gravy or red wine on top.
Cover the dish and bake at 350°F (175°C) for two hours.
For a variation, add parboiled, bearded oysters between the steak layers and use their liquor instead of ketchup and wine.
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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Shallot + mushroomtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,982 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Mushroom + red winetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together720 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol (smoky, clove).
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Pepper + mushroomtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Shallot + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,898 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Shallot + red winetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together231 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rump steak
- Provides the meat that becomes tender during the long, covered baking.
- Shallots
- Add aromatic sweetness and savour that blends into the pie filling.
- Mushroom ketchup
- Adds deep savoury umami flavour to the filling's liquid.
- Gravy or red wine
- Adds liquid that moistens the steak and builds the sauce during baking.
The step that matters
Beat the steak pieces until tender. Beating breaks down the muscle fibres in tough rump steak, so it softens more evenly during baking. Under-beaten pieces can stay chewy even after two hours covered in the oven.
Swap the shallot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, mushroom, ketchup, red wine, oyster):
- Shallotthe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Tomatofits about as well
- Horseradishfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, mushroom, ketchup, red wine, oyster. 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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