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Irish Stew

A hearty stew of mutton chops with potatoes, turnips, onions simmered in water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Irish Stew

Why it works: Potato and onion 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 ↓

Irish Stew

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Take 2 pounds of loin mutton chops.

  2. Put them in a pot in alternate layers with 8 sliced potatoes, 4 turnips, and 4 small onions coarsely chopped.

  3. Pour over them 1 quart water.

Stew and serve

  1. Cover pot closely and let stew gently about 2 hours.

  2. Turn into a hot dish and serve.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

239Calories
7 gProtein
0 gFat
55 gCarbs

Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 3 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Turnip1 medium (122g)34
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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. See the original page.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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.

  1. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Turnip + oniontop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Potato + turniptop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together562 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Mutton chops
Provides the meat and rich flavour that the stew is built around.
Potatoes
Thicken the stew as they break down and add starchy body.
Turnips
Add mild sweetness and soften during the slow stew.
Onions
Add savoury depth and sweetness as they cook down into the broth.

The step that matters

Cover pot closely and let stew gently. A gentle, covered simmer keeps the meat tender and prevents the liquid from reducing too fast. Boiling hard toughens the meat and can break up the potatoes.

Swap the turnip

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, onion):

  1. Chivefits better
  2. Leekfits better
  3. Okrafits better
  4. Turnipthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, 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.

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