Why it works: Carrot and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 21,601 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Sheep's Tails, with Puree of Green Peas
Ingredients
Directions
Soak the sheep's tails in water to remove the blood.
Blanch the tails in boiling water.
Braise the tails in a pot with carrots, onions, and spices until tender.
Drain the tails and glaze them.
Serve the glazed tails over a bed of pureed green peas.
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.
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Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21,601 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Carrot + peastop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,994 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Onion + peastop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,460 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
Swap the peas
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, onion):
- Beansfits better
- Sesamefits better
- Lentilsfits better
- Peasthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, onion. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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