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Irish Stew

A hearty stew of mutton, potatoes, onions, carrot, simmered in water with salt and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 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

  1. Cut the meat into small pieces.

  2. Peel and chop the potatoes, onions, and carrot.

Cook the stew

  1. In a large pot, combine the meat, vegetables, and water.

  2. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer.

  3. Cook until the potatoes are soft and have broken down into a pulp.

  4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

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. Potato + carrottop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,107 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  3. Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

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

  4. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

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

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

Potatoes
Their starch breaks down during simmering, thickening the broth and giving the stew body.
Meat
Slow simmering breaks down connective tissue, making the meat tender and enriching the broth.
Onions
As they soften and cook down, they add sweetness and savory depth to the broth.
Carrot
Cooks down to add gentle sweetness and color to the stew.

The step that matters

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer. A hard, rolling boil toughens meat proteins and breaks potatoes unevenly. A gentle simmer lets the meat become tender and the potatoes soften steadily into the broth.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, meat, mutton, carrot, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Tomatofits about as well
  3. Spinachfits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, meat, mutton, carrot, 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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