Why it works: Beef and pork match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,690 recipes. Both carry 12-methyltridecanal, which smells tallowy, beefy. The science ↓
Fillet of Beef
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the fillet
Remove all skin and fat from the fillet, including the sinewy skin on top.
Use a larding needle to insert strips of salt pork or bacon into the fillet at equal intervals.
Bake and serve
Place small pieces of pork or suet in a baking pan.
Season the fillet generously with salt and pepper, then place it in the pan.
Add 1 cup of beef stock to the pan.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 45 minutes, basting often.
Serve with mushroom sauce.
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.
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Beef + porktop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,690 recipes
Shared aroma: 12-methyltridecanal (tallowy, beefy).
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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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Pork + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,121 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef fillet
- Main cut that stays tender and juicy when cooked gently with basting.
- Salt pork or bacon
- Larded strips melt during baking, adding fat that keeps the lean fillet moist and flavorful.
- Pork or suet
- Fat in the pan bastes the meat and adds richness to the pan juices.
- Beef stock
- Liquid in the pan builds the basting juices and a savory base for the sauce.
The step that matters
Basting often during baking. Lean beef dries out easily in dry oven heat. Regular basting with fat and pan liquid keeps the surface moist and helps the outside brown evenly.
“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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