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Grilled Beef

Slices of cold roast beef are coated in a seasoned dressing and broiled until browned.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Olive and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,922 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Grilled Beef

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the dressing

  1. Beat the egg until light, then gradually beat in the olive oil and lemon juice or vinegar until thick.

  2. Add salt, white pepper, mustard, and cayenne to the dressing.

Grill and serve

  1. Cut thin slices of cold roast beef, about 3 inches long and 1.5 inches wide.

  2. Dip the beef slices in the dressing and broil over a clear fire until browned and heated through.

  3. Remove to a hot platter, place a piece of butter on each slice, and briefly set in the oven before serving.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Olive + lemontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,922 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Olive + mustardtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,950 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Lemon + mustardtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,816 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Beef + olivetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,220 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  5. Olive + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,887 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

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

What each ingredient does

Egg
Emulsifies the oil and lemon juice into a thick dressing that clings to the beef.
Olive oil or melted butter
Adds fat that carries flavour and keeps the beef moist while it broils.
Lemon juice or vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the dressing and helps thicken it with the egg.
Mustard
Adds sharpness and helps stabilise the emulsified dressing.
Cold roast beef
Provides the meat, which is browned and heated through under the broiler.

The step that matters

Beating in the oil gradually. Adding the oil slowly to the beaten egg lets it disperse into tiny droplets, forming a stable emulsion. Pouring it in too fast makes the dressing separate and fail to thicken or cling to the beef.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, egg, olive, lemon, mustard, butter):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, egg, olive, lemon, mustard, butter. 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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