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The Dutch Way to Salt Beef

A method of salting a large piece of beef using treacle, salt, and optional saltpetre, then drying and boiling.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 37% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,435 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

The Dutch Way to Salt Beef

Ingredients

Directions

Cure

  1. Rub the beef well with treacle or brown sugar.

  2. Turn the beef often for 3 days.

  3. Wipe the beef.

  4. Rub the beef with common salt and finely beaten saltpetre.

  5. Turn the beef every day for 2 weeks.

Press and dry

  1. Roll the beef tightly in a coarse cloth.

  2. Press the beef under 4 heavy weights.

  3. Hang the beef to dry in wood-smoke.

  4. Turn the beef upside down daily.

  5. Press the beef.

Cook and serve

  1. Boil the beef in pump-water.

  2. Grate or cut the beef into shivers.

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. Beef + sugartop 37% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,435 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Common salt
Draws moisture out of the beef and preserves it during curing.
Saltpetre
Helps preserve the meat and gives the cured beef its characteristic colour.
Treacle or brown sugar
Adds sweetness and a rich flavour that balances the salt.

The step that matters

Turn the beef regularly during curing. Salt and sugar only penetrate the meat from its surface, so turning the beef keeps the cure in even contact with every side and helps the salt reach evenly through the joint.

“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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