Why it works: Pepper and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 33% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 50,580 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Beef-steak Pie
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a fierce oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the beef
Trim off the coarse skin and excess fat from the steak.
If the beef is tough, gently beat it with a rolling pin until tender, then cut into slices.
Assemble the pie
Place the beef slices in a pie dish and season with salt, pepper, and cayenne.
Add enough water to create gravy and keep the meat moist.
Cover the pie with pastry, brushing the edges with egg or cold water to seal.
Trim the edges and cut a small slit in the center of the pastry.
Decorate the pie as desired.
Bake
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 1 hour and 20 minutes.
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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Pepper + eggtop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together50,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Pepper and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 50,580 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
- Rump steak
- Provides the main meat, which becomes tender during the long, moist bake.
- Water
- Creates gravy and keeps the meat moist as it cooks.
- Puff pastry
- Forms a flaky crust that seals the pie and browns in the oven.
- Egg
- Brushed on the pastry to promote browning and a glossy finish.
The step that matters
Beating and slicing the beef if it is tough. Gentle beating breaks down muscle fibres so the steak softens during baking. Rough handling or skipping this on a tough cut can leave the meat chewy.
“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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