Name: Parsnip Stew
Ingredients: slices of salt pork; 5 large parsnips; a few potatoes

Why it works: Pork and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,668 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓

Parsnip Stew

Ingredients

slices of salt pork
5 large parsnips
a few potatoes

Directions

Boil slices of salt pork for 1.5 hours.
Scrape and cut parsnips into lengthwise quarters, then add to the pork and boil for 30 minutes.
Add a few potatoes and boil until the potatoes are soft.
Ensure there is about 1 cup of liquid in the kettle when ready to serve.

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.

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.

Pork + potatotop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,668 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Parsnip + potatotop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together353 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Pork + parsniptop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together306 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

Salt pork: Slowly boiled to release savory flavor and fat into the stew liquid.
Parsnips: Hold their shape during long boiling while adding sweetness and body to the stew.
Potatoes: Soften as they cook, thickening the liquid and giving the stew a hearty texture.