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Brunswick Stew

A hearty stew of shredded beef, potatoes, butter beans, corn, tomatoes, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Beans and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,713 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Brunswick Stew

Ingredients

Directions

Make the stew

  1. In a large pot, place the shank of beef and cover with water to make soup.

  2. Cook the beef for several hours until tender.

  3. Remove the beef, shred it, and discard any bones and gristle.

  4. Return the shredded beef to the pot and add the mashed potatoes, butter beans, corn, and chopped tomatoes.

  5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Finish and serve

  1. Just before serving, stir in the butter.

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. Beans + tomatotop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,713 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Beans + corntop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,211 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  3. Potato + corntop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together938 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  4. Potato + beanstop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together655 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  5. Potato + tomatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,798 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 shank
Slowly cooked until tender, it gives the stew its meaty flavor and body.
Potatoes
Mashed into the broth, they thicken the stew and add body.
Butter beans
Hold their shape through cooking and add starchy, creamy texture.
Corn
Adds sweetness and tender pops of texture.
Tomatoes
Add acidity and fresh flavor that brightens the rich broth.
Butter
Stirred in at the end, it adds richness and a silky mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Shredding and returning the beef. Beef must be cooked until fully tender before shredding; if it is not, the meat stays tough and chewy. Removing bones and gristle keeps the stew pleasant to eat.

“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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