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Sauce for Rump-steak

A sauce made from ale, red wine, ketchup, butter, pepper, and garlic vinegar for rump steak.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and garlic are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,090 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Sauce for Rump-steak

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a small saucepan, combine ale, red wine, ketchup, butter, pepper, and garlic vinegar.

  2. Stir the mixture over medium heat until heated through.

  3. Pour the hot sauce over the steak.

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. Pepper + garlictop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,090 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Red wine + vinegartop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together575 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Garlic + vinegartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,115 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  4. Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Red wine + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,599 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

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

What each ingredient does

Ale
Adds liquid and a malty, slightly bitter depth that balances the sweetness of the ketchup.
Red wine
Adds acidity and savory depth, and its liquid helps the sauce reduce and coat the steak.
Ketchup
Adds sweetness, tomato acidity, and body that thickens the sauce as it heats.
Butter
Adds fat and richness, giving the sauce a smooth, glossy mouthfeel.
Garlic vinegar
Adds sharp acidity and aromatic garlic flavor that cuts through the richness of the steak.

The step that matters

Heat until heated through, not boiling hard. Gentle, steady heat lets the butter emulsify into the liquids and keeps the sauce smooth. Vigorous boiling can make it separate and reduce too quickly, concentrating the vinegar and wine harshly.

Swap the garlic

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (red wine, ketchup, butter, pepper, vinegar):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Clovefits better
  4. Garlicthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against red wine, ketchup, butter, pepper, vinegar. 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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