Name: Hodge-Podge, a l'Ecossaise
Ingredients: 1 whole fowl; 2 cups mixed vegetables (carrots, potatoes, peas); 1 onion; 1 tablespoon butter; 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt; 1/2 teaspoon black pepper; 4 cups water

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 ↓

Hodge-Podge, a l'Ecossaise

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat.
Add the chopped onion and sauté until translucent.
Add the fowl and water, bringing to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.
Remove the fowl, shred the meat, and return it to the pot.
Add the mixed vegetables, salt, and pepper, cooking until tender.
Serve hot.

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.

Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Carrot + potatotop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,107 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,555 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together21,601 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,994 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Fowl: Provides the meat and rich flavour of the stew as it simmers in the water.
Mixed vegetables: Add bulk, sweetness and texture as they soften in the broth.
Onion: Sautéed in butter, it builds a sweet, savoury base for the stew.
Butter: Adds fat and richness to the base and carries the onion's flavour.

Swap the peas

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

Beansfits better
Sesamefits better
Chickpeafits better
Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, potato, onion, butter, 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.