Crab Stew

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. Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs
   Smell alikestrong
   Cooked together27,047 recipes

   Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

2. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together81,283 recipes

   Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

3. Butter + crabtop 10% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together812 recipes

   Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

4. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
   Smell alikelow
   Cooked together124,287 recipes

   Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

5. Sherry + crabtop 13% of all pairs
   Smell alikemoderate
   Cooked together67 recipes

   Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Egg yolks

Thicken the milk and add richness and body to the stew.

Butter

Adds richness and helps bind the yolk and flour mixture smoothly into the milk.

Flour

Thickens the milk so the stew becomes creamy rather than watery.

Milk

Forms the base of the stew, carrying the thickened, creamy body.

Crab

Provides the main seafood flavor and tender meat in the stew.

The step that matters

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, butter, flour, pepper, sherry, crab, egg):

1. Lemonthe original
2. Vanillafits about as well
3. Figfits less well
4. Raisinfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, butter, flour, pepper, sherry, crab, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.