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Stewed Beef

A hearty stew of beef, potatoes, and herbs, finished with bread.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Marjoram and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Stewed Beef

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Place the beef in a pot filled with water and add the salt.

  2. Simmer slowly until the beef is tender and the water reduces to about 2 quarts.

  3. Peel and quarter the potatoes, then add them to the pot.

  4. Stir in the black pepper, marjoram, thyme, and celery flavor.

  5. Cook until the potatoes are tender but not mashed.

  6. Break the dry bread into small pieces and add to the pot.

  7. Serve once the bread is soaked, and enjoy.

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.

  1. Marjoram + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Thyme + celerytop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,193 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Pepper + marjoramtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,609 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Marjoram + celerytop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together615 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Pepper + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef shank or hock
Slow simmering breaks down connective tissue, making the meat tender and enriching the broth.
Potatoes
Starch thickens the broth slightly and gives the stew its body as they cook.
Dry bread
Soaks up broth and thickens the stew as it absorbs liquid.
Black pepper
Adds sharp, aromatic heat that seasons the broth.

The step that matters

Cook the potatoes until tender but not mashed. Potatoes keep cooking in the hot liquid, and overcooked starch breaks down and turns grainy or mushy, clouding the broth and losing the texture of the pieces.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper, marjoram, thyme, celery, bread):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Tomatofits better
  3. Leekfits better
  4. Potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, marjoram, thyme, celery, bread. 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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