Why it works: Onion and beef are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Sttewed Onions
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Peel the onions and trim the ends without cutting into them.
Place the onions in a saucepan in a single layer.
If using large onions, boil them in water for 30 minutes, then drain and add to boiling gravy.
For added flavor, lightly flour and fry the onions until pale brown before stewing.
Stew
Cover the onions with gravy and stew gently for 2 hours until tender.
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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Onion + beeftop 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
- Portugal onions
- Become tender and sweet as they stew slowly in the gravy.
- Beef or veal gravy
- Provides the liquid and savory flavor that the onions absorb as they cook.
The step that matters
Stewing gently for 2 hours. A gentle simmer lets the onions soften evenly and turn tender without breaking apart. Rapid boiling can break down their structure and make the gravy cloudy.
“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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