Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 29,058 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓
Chili Con Carne
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cook the beef until well done.
Cook the beans in 2 gallons of water until soft.
Pass the cooked beans through a fine sieve.
Chop the meat, onions, garlic, and chili peppers finely using a food chopper.
Make the chili
Combine all ingredients in a kettle.
Season the mixture with salt.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
Mix the flour with water to form a thick paste.
Add the thick paste to the kettle.
Let the chili cook for 20 minutes.
Can and process
Fill the chili into cans.
Process No.1 cans for 40 minutes at 240°F (115°C) and No.2 cans for 50 minutes at 240°F (115°C).
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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Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together29,058 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together14,076 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Tomato + wheattop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together468 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-nonanal (fatty, waxy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lean beef
- Provides the main protein and bulk, with fat adding richness and flavor to the chili.
- Beans
- Add body, fiber-rich texture and substance, and thicken the chili as they break down when sieved.
- Tomatoes
- Supply liquid, acidity and sweetness that form the base of the sauce.
- Wheat flour
- Thickens the chili into a thick, cohesive sauce when mixed into a paste and cooked.
- Chili peppers
- Provide heat and pungent flavor that defines the dish.
- Beef broth
- Adds savory depth and liquid to the simmering mixture.
The step that matters
Adding the flour paste. Flour must be mixed with water into a smooth paste before it goes into the hot kettle; added dry or in lumps, it clumps and stays raw-tasting, and starch only thickens properly once it is fully dispersed and heated.
Swap the kidney beans
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, onion, garlic, tomato, pepper, wheat, flour):
- Chickpeafits better
- Beansfits better
- Lentilsfits better
- Kidney beansthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, onion, garlic, tomato, pepper, wheat, flour. 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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