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 ↓
Stewed Potatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the potatoes
Soak the quartered potatoes in cold water.
Boil the potatoes until almost done, then drain the water.
Add milk (or soup stock), butter, and chopped parsley, and cook for a while longer.
Thicken and serve
Thicken with flour mixed with cold water or milk, stir, and remove from heat.
In a separate pan, heat a little butter or drippings.
Brown the flour in the hot fat, then add soup stock, vinegar, and chopped parsley.
Pour this mixture over the potatoes, bring to a boil, and serve.
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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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Provide the starchy bulk of the stew, softening as they boil.
- Milk
- Adds creaminess and the liquid that the flour thickens.
- Butter
- Carries richness and flavor, and helps the flour brown.
- Flour
- Its starch swells when heated, thickening the liquid into a sauce.
- Vinegar
- Adds sharpness that balances the richness of the butter and milk.
The step that matters
Mixing the flour smoothly. Flour must be blended smoothly with cold liquid before it meets the hot mixture, because dry starch clumps when added directly. Once heated, the starch granules swell and thicken the stew evenly.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, milk, butter, onion, flour, vinegar):
- Garlicfits better
- Parsleythe original
- Thymefits about as well
- Capersfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against potato, milk, butter, onion, flour, vinegar. 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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