Name: Irish Stew
Ingredients: 2 pounds mutton (trimmings of chops and neck); 2 pounds potatoes, cut into pieces; 1 teaspoon salt; ½ teaspoon pepper; 2 onions, cut into pieces (optional); 1 carrot, cut into pieces; 1 pint water; 1 tablespoon butter

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

In a large pot, combine mutton, potatoes, salt, pepper, onions (if using), carrot, and water.
Bring to a simmer and cook for 2 hours.
Stir in butter before serving hot.

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.

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.

Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + carrottop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,107 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Pepper + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,555 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together21,601 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,305 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

Mutton: Provides rich meaty flavor and collagen that softens into a savory broth during long simmering.
Potatoes: Starch that breaks down during cooking, thickening the broth and making the stew hearty.
Butter: Adds fat that rounds out the broth and gives a smoother, silkier mouthfeel at the end.

Swap the onion

The recipe marks onion as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, potato, pepper, carrot, butter):

Capsicumfits about as well
Leekfits about as well
Onionthe original
Tomatofits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, potato, pepper, carrot, butter. 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.