Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Frizzled Beef
Ingredients
Directions
In a pot, combine the shaved dried beef, sausage, and cold water, then boil for 2 minutes.
Stir in the flour, butter, and egg, boil for an additional 2 minutes, and serve.
Alternatively, use 2 cups of beef and 1½ pints of cream or rich milk, cooking as above and omitting the butter.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Beef + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,847 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Dried beef
- Supplies the salty, savoury meat flavour that defines the dish.
- Sausage
- Adds savoury flavour and fat to the cooking liquid.
- Flour
- Thickens the liquid as its starch swells when heated.
- Egg
- Thickens and enriches the liquid as it sets with heat.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that carries flavour and smooths the texture.
- Cream or rich milk
- Adds richness and body, giving a smoother, creamier texture.
The step that matters
Stirring in the flour and egg. Flour must be fully dispersed before the liquid thickens, or it forms lumps as its starch swells. Egg proteins set with heat and can curdle or scramble if the liquid boils hard, so keep the mixture moving and the heat controlled.
“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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