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 ↓
Gravy and Sauces
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the meat
Cut the meat into small pieces and score it with a mallet.
Season with salt and pepper, then place in a stew pan with butter.
Brown and simmer
Heat gradually until browned, shaking the pan frequently to prevent burning.
Add boiling water, using 1 pint for each pound of meat.
Simmer covered for about three hours, skimming regularly.
Strain and store
Remove from heat, let it settle, then strain.
To store, place in a stone vessel, cover, and keep in a cool place.
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 + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + meattop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,533 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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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 + meattop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,594 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Pepper + meattop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,777 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef or veal
- Provides the meat flavour and the savoury body of the gravy as it cooks down in water.
- Butter
- Fat that helps the meat brown and carries flavour into the pan.
- Boiling water
- Forms the liquid base that extracts flavour and gelatin from the meat during simmering.
The step that matters
Heating gradually until browned. Heating slowly and shaking the pan stops the meat and butter from scorching before the browning develops. Scorched bits would give the gravy a bitter, burnt taste.
“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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