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Irish Stew

A hearty stew of mutton, potatoes, onions, ginger, and milk thickened with flour and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 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 the meat

  1. Cut the mutton into pieces and wash well in cold water.

  2. Add a little salt and place in a stew pan with enough water to cover it.

  3. Skim off any scum that rises as it boils.

Add the vegetables and thicken

  1. Peel the potatoes, slice the ginger and onions, and add the green chili if desired.

  2. Once the meat is tender, add the cut vegetables.

  3. Mix the milk and flour together, then pour in with the butter to thicken the gravy.

  4. Boil again until the desired amount of gravy remains.

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.

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

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

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

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

  3. Pepper + gingertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,800 recipes

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

  4. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

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

  5. Onion + gingertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,595 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 the main meat, which becomes tender through long simmering in water.
Potatoes
Break down partly during cooking, adding body and starch to the stew.
Onions
Soften and turn sweet as they cook, adding savory depth to the gravy.
Flour
Starch that thickens the liquid into a gravy when combined with milk and butter.
Butter
Adds richness and fat to the gravy, giving it a smoother mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Thickening the gravy with milk and flour. Flour mixed directly into hot liquid forms lumps, so it should first be blended smooth with the milk. Starch then thickens the gravy as it heats, and boiling too long can leave it thicker than desired.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, potato, onion, pepper, milk, flour, butter):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Garlicfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, potato, onion, pepper, milk, flour, 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.

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