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Irish Stew

A stew of mutton chops simmered with potatoes, onions, butter, flour, milk, pepper, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Irish Stew

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 ↓

Irish Stew

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mutton

  1. Cover mutton chops with water and bring to a boil.

  2. Pour off the water and add more fresh water.

Make the stew

  1. Melt the butter in a pot, then stir in the flour.

  2. Add the milk, pepper, and salt, mixing well.

  3. Add the potatoes and onions, then boil until the potatoes are done.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Pepper + potatotop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Milk + potatotop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

  5. Pepper + oniontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 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

Mutton chops
Provide the main meat flavour and body of the stew.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, carrying flavour through the sauce.
Flour
Thickens the liquid as it cooks with the butter and milk.
Milk
Adds creaminess and mildness to the thickened sauce.
Potatoes
Soften during boiling and add body and starch to the stew.
Onions
Soften and turn sweeter as they cook, adding aroma.

The step that matters

Stirring the milk into the butter and flour. Flour cooked in butter forms a roux that thickens liquid. Adding milk while mixing well helps the starch disperse evenly, which prevents lumps and gives a smooth sauce.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, egg, butter, flour, milk, pepper, potato):

  1. Asparagusfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Leekfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, egg, butter, flour, milk, pepper, potato. 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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