Why it works: Turnip and carrot 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 ↓
Beef Stew
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Remove fat from the beef and cut it into 1-inch pieces.
Set aside ½ cup of the best pieces.
Soak the remaining meat and the bone in cold water for 1 hour, then heat until it bubbles.
Season the reserved ½ cup of meat with salt and pepper.
Roll it in flour.
Brown
Melt fat in a frying pan.
Brown the sliced onion.
Add the floured meat and brown it as well.
Simmer and serve
Add the browned onion and meat to the stew.
Cook for 2 hours over low heat.
Add the diced vegetables and flour mixed with ¼ cup cold water.
Cook for 1 hour or until the meat and vegetables are tender.
Remove the bone.
Season to taste.
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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Turnip + carrottop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,002 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Carrot + potatotop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,107 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
-
Onion + turniptop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,585 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,555 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
- Long, slow cooking breaks down connective tissue, making the meat tender and flavourful.
- Flour
- Thickens the stew as its starch swells in the hot liquid, giving body to the broth.
- Onion
- Browning develops sweetness and savoury depth that flavours the whole stew.
- Potatoes
- Soften during cooking and release some starch, adding body and substance to the stew.
- Carrot
- Adds natural sweetness and colour, and holds its shape well during long simmering.
- Turnip
- Adds a mild, slightly peppery flavour and firm texture to the vegetables.
The step that matters
Mixing the flour with cold water before adding it. Flour mixed with cold water disperses evenly, so it does not form lumps. As the stew heats, the starch swells and thickens the liquid smoothly.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, turnip, carrot, potato, pepper, flour):
- Parsnipfits better
- Leekfits better
- Okrafits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, turnip, carrot, potato, pepper, flour. 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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