Name: Beef Stew with Vegetables
Ingredients: cold scraps of beef, cut into 1-inch pieces; 3 onions, diced; 1 small turnip, diced; some celery, diced; toast for serving

Why it works: Turnip and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,418 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Beef Stew with Vegetables

Ingredients

Directions

In a pot, combine the beef, onions, turnip, and celery.
Add enough water to cover the ingredients.
Simmer until the beef and vegetables are tender.
Serve the stew over toast.

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.

Turnip + celerytop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,418 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Onion + turniptop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together7,585 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,518 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Beef + celerytop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,370 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef: Provides the main protein and savory flavor, becoming tender as it simmers.
Onions: Add sweetness and aroma as they soften into the broth.
Turnip: Adds body and a mild, slightly sweet vegetable flavor to the stew.
Celery: Contributes aromatic flavor and soft texture after simmering.