Name: Parsnip Stew
Ingredients: 1 pound salt pork; 5 or 6 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

1 pound salt pork
5 or 6 parsnips
a few potatoes

Directions

Slice the salt pork and boil for 1 hour or more.
Scrape and cut the parsnips into lengthwise quarters.
Add the parsnips to the pork and boil for another 30 minutes.
Add a few potatoes and cook until the potatoes are done.
Ensure the water reduces to about 1 pint before serving.

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: Renders fat and seasons the broth as it simmers for a long time.
Parsnips: Soften during boiling and add sweetness and body to the stew.
Potatoes: Break down slightly as they cook, thickening the broth and adding starch.