Why it works: Onion and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Beef Stew
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat.
Add the beef chunks and brown on all sides.
Stir in the onions, carrots, and potatoes.
Pour in the beef broth and add salt, pepper, and bay leaves.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours until the beef is tender.
Remove bay leaves before serving.
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 + potatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Carrot + potatotop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,107 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,555 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21,601 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 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
- Browning builds savory flavor, and slow simmering turns the connective tissue tender.
- Potatoes
- Starch thickens the broth slightly as they cook and soften.
- Carrots
- Natural sugars add gentle sweetness that balances the savory broth.
- Beef broth
- Liquid that cooks the vegetables and meat and carries the seasoning through the stew.
The step that matters
Browning the beef. Searing the meat on all sides creates browned, savory flavor through the Maillard reaction. Crowding the pot or skipping the sear makes the meat grey and the stew blander.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, carrot, potato, pepper):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Tomatofits about as well
- Onionthe original
- Parsnipfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, carrot, potato, pepper. 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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