Name: Oven-Braised Venison Ragout
Ingredients: 3 lb. boneless venison such as rump pot roast,; sirloin tip or top round, cut into 1 1/2-inch; cubes; 2 Tbs. all-purpose flour; 2 Tbs. olive oil; 3 oz. pancetta, finely chopped; 1 yellow onion, finely chopped; 6 fresh flat-leaf parsley sprigs; 3 fresh thyme sprigs; 2 bay leaves; 4 garlic cloves, minced; 1 1/2 cups dry red wine such as Barolo,; Cabernet Sauvignon or Côtes-du-Rhône; 4 cups chicken, beef or veal broth; 1 Tbs. tomato paste; 1 lb. pearl onions; 2 Tbs. unsalted butter; 1 lb. small fresh button mushrooms, brushed; clean; 2 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley; Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Why it works: Parsley and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

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.

Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,057 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Thyme + clovetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,108 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Olive + thymetop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,948 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).

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

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (venison, flour, olive, onion, parsley, thyme, garlic):

Marjoramfits better
Rosemaryfits better
Cuminfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against venison, flour, olive, onion, parsley, thyme, garlic. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Beef	100g cooked	250
Chicken	100g cooked	165
Venison	100g cooked	158
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Mushroom	1/2 cup sliced (35g)	15
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Bay Leaf	1 leaf (0.6g)	2
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Veal	not in our table	0

Oven-Braised Venison Ragout