Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Roast Beef
Ingredients
Directions
Place the beef roast in a pot half filled with water.
Constantly turn the roast and let it brown.
When tender, dredge the roast with flour, chopped onions, salt, and pepper.
Remove the roast when done.
Make gravy by adding flour and water if there isn't enough juice.
Season the gravy to taste.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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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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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Flour + oniontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together32,460 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef roast
- Main cut that becomes tender and browned during the cooking process.
- Flour
- Thickens the juices into gravy and helps coat the roast.
- Chopped onions
- Adds aromatic sweetness and savoury flavour to the juices and gravy.
The step that matters
Constantly turn the roast and let it brown. Turning the roast keeps the surface from scorching while it browns evenly. Browning comes from the Maillard reaction, which builds savoury flavour and colour on the outside of the meat.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, flour, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Okrafits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, flour, pepper. 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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