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 ↓
Roast Beef
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the beef
Cover the beef with black pepper the night before roasting.
Wash off the pepper and season the beef with a little coarse sea salt.
Roast
Place the beef in a roasting pan with the bone side facing the fire at 400°F (200°C).
When nearly done, turn the spit to cook the fleshy side.
Baste the beef with the drippings from the pan.
Check the juice; if it looks red, cook a little longer.
Make the gravy and serve
Mix 1 tablespoon of browned flour with water until smooth and thicken the gravy in the pan.
Serve the meat on a hot dish with gravy poured over it and extra gravy in a sauceboat.
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 + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Beef + flourtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,677 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Beef and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,677 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
- Beef
- Is the main cut that is roasted, providing the meat and its drippings for basting and gravy.
- Browned flour
- Thickens the pan drippings into a smooth gravy as it mixes with the liquid.
The step that matters
Check the juice; if it looks red, cook a little longer.. Meat colour is an unreliable doneness guide, but the juices running clear or pale indicate the beef is cooked through. Pulling it too early leaves the centre undercooked and tough to chew.
“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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