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Rolled Steak

A steak rolled and stuffed with salt pork, breadcrumbs, herbs, and onion, then braised for two hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Rolled Steak

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Have the butcher beat the steak with a cleaver and score it with a sharp knife.

  2. Spread the forcemeat (chopped salt pork, bread crumbs, pepper, salt, thyme, marjoram, parsley, onion) thickly over the steak.

  3. Roll the steak tightly and tie it with twine.

Cook and serve

  1. Place it in a dripping pan half filled with boiling water, cover, and cook for 2 hours, turning 2 or 3 times.

  2. Serve with thickened gravy poured around it, remove the twine before serving, and slice across the end when carving.

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. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Marjoram + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  5. Pepper + marjoramtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,609 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Round steak
Forms the outer meat layer that wraps around the forcemeat and gives the roll its bulk.
Salt pork
Adds fat that melts during the long cook, keeping the forcemeat moist and flavourful.
Bread crumbs
Absorb juices and fat from the salt pork, helping the forcemeat hold together and stay tender.
Onion
Adds aromatic sweetness and savoury depth to the forcemeat.

The step that matters

Rolling and tying the steak tightly. A loose roll can open or unravel during the two-hour cook, letting the forcemeat escape and the slices fall apart. Tight rolling and secure tying keep the filling in place and give neat, even slices.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, bread, pepper, thyme, marjoram, parsley):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, bread, pepper, thyme, marjoram, parsley. 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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