Why it works: Tomato and beans 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
Cut up the chicken or squirrels and place them in a pot with 1-2 gallons of water.
Bring to a boil and let stew until the bones can be removed.
Add the chopped tomatoes, butter beans, corn, and sliced potatoes.
Season with butter, pepper, and coarse sea salt.
Cook until thick enough to be eaten with a fork.
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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Tomato + beanstop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,713 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beans + corntop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,211 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Corn + potatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together938 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Beans + potatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together655 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Tomato + potatotop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked 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
- Chicken or squirrels
- Provides the meat that flavours the stew as it simmers down with the bones.
- Large tomatoes
- Add acidity and liquid that help break down the stew into a thick, rich base.
- Butter beans
- Add body and starch, thickening the stew as they cook.
- Corn
- Adds sweetness and texture to the stew.
- Irish potatoes
- Release starch as they cook, helping the stew thicken.
The step that matters
Cook until thick enough to be eaten with a fork. Long simmering lets starches from the beans and potatoes and the collagen from the bones thicken the liquid. Stopping early leaves a thin, watery stew.
“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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