Why it works: Carrot and turnip match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,002 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Braised Beef
suitable for a family of 6Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Braise the beef
Brown the beef in hot beef drippings.
Add enough water to nearly cover the beef.
Add the carrots, onions, and turnips.
Cook for 3 hours or until the meat is tender.
Season with salt and pepper when the meat is about 2/3 done.
Finish the sauce
Remove the meat and strain the drippings.
Mash the vegetables through a potato press.
If the sauce needs thickening, mix flour with cold water and add it.
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.
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Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,002 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Onion + turniptop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,585 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,555 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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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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Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 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
- Beef
- Browning the outside adds flavor, and long slow cooking makes the connective tissue tender.
- Carrots
- Add sweetness and body to the sauce as they soften during cooking.
- Onions
- Break down during braising to add savory flavor and body to the sauce.
- Turnips
- Soften during cooking and mash into the sauce, adding body and mild sweetness.
- Flour
- Thickens the sauce when mixed with cold water before it is added.
The step that matters
Season when the meat is about 2/3 done. Salt drawn into meat during long cooking tends to be more even when added partway through, and seasoning late lets you adjust the sauce as its flavor concentrates.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, carrot, turnip, flour, pepper):
- Parsnipfits better
- Leekfits better
- Okrafits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, carrot, turnip, flour, pepper. 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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