Name: Beef Burgundy Stew with Rice Verte
Ingredients: 1 1/2 pounds lean beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes; 2 teaspoons bottled browning sauce (optional); 2 teaspoons vegetable oil; 1 14-1/2- to 16-ounce can tomatoes (2 cups); 1/2 cup Burgundy wine; 1 beef bouillon cube; 1 1/2 teaspoons salt; 1/2 teaspoon basil; 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt; 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper; 1 small bay leaf; 8 small white onions; 8 young carrots, peeled and cut into quarters; 2 tablespoons cornstarch; 1/4 cup water; Rice Verte; 1/4 cup finely chopped onion; 2 tablespoons butter or margarine; 3 cups hot cooked rice, cooked in beef broth; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley; Salt and ground black pepper

Why it works: Garlic and onion 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 ↓

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.

Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Tomato + basiltop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,979 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together14,076 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Basil + garlictop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,805 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,294 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef chuck: Connective tissue breaks down during long simmering, leaving the meat tender and rich.
Tomatoes: Provide acidity and body, adding moisture that forms the base of the sauce.
Burgundy wine: Adds acidity and aroma, deepening the flavor of the sauce as it simmers.
Cornstarch: Thickens the cooking liquid into a glossy sauce when heated with it.
White onions: Soften during simmering and add sweetness to the stew.
Carrots: Soften during simmering and add natural sweetness to the stew.

The step that matters

Stirring in the cornstarch mixture. Cornstarch must be blended with cold water first and stirred into simmering liquid, then cooked until thickened. Added dry or lumpy, it clumps and the sauce stays thin or cloudy.

Swap the basil

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, sauce, tomato, wine, garlic, pepper, onion):

Thymefits better
Cuminfits about as well
Oreganofits about as well
Basilthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, sauce, tomato, wine, garlic, pepper, onion. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Beef	100g cooked	250
Rice	1 cup cooked (158g) white	206
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Wine	2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)	25
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Bay Leaf	1 leaf (0.6g)	2
Basil	5 leaves fresh (2.5g)	1
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Sauce	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0

Beef Burgundy Stew with Rice Verte