Why it works: Onion and garlic match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 29,058 recipes mention both. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓
Varkensvlees Stoofpot
Ingredients
Directions
Seal the meat all round.
Add the onion and ham and fry until the onions are browned.
Add the courgette, pepper, tomatoes and potatoes.
Then add the spices to taste.
Add 1 dl of water and cover the pan.
Leave on a low heat until done, adding water if necessary. If kept on a low heat for a longer period, it should be checked periodically and water added if necessary.
This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.
Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together29,058 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together14,076 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + garlictop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together4,517 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Potato + tomatotop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned 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
- Lean pork
- Browns on sealing to build savoury flavour and provides the main protein for the stew.
- Onion
- Browns in the pan to add sweetness and depth to the stew base.
- Smoked ham
- Adds smoky, salty flavour to the stew.
- Potatoes
- Soften slowly in the covered pan and thicken the stew as their starch releases.
- Tomato
- Adds acidity and moisture, helping to form the cooking liquid.
The step that matters
Leave on a low heat with water added as needed. Gentle heat under a lid lets the meat and vegetables cook through without drying out. Because the pan can dry out over a long cook, checking the liquid and adding water keeps the stew moist and prevents scorching on the base.
Flavor stand-ins for the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, onion, ham, pepper, potato, garlic):
- Chiveabout as good a flavor fit
- Tomatothe original
- Okraabout as good a flavor fit
- Mustardabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against pork, onion, ham, pepper, potato, garlic. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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