Skip to main content
Main

Parsnip Stew

A stew of pork, parsnips, and potatoes simmered in water with pepper and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Pork and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,668 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓

Parsnip Stew

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the pork

  1. Remove the rind from the pork and cut it into narrow strips.

  2. Parboil the pork for 30 minutes.

Make the stew

  1. In a saucepan, combine the pork, parsnips cut into small pieces, and enough hot water to cover.

  2. When the parsnips are half done, add the parboiled potatoes cut into quarters.

  3. Boil slowly until the vegetables are tender.

  4. Season with white pepper, cayenne pepper, and coarse sea salt if needed.

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. Pork + potatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  2. Parsnip + potatotop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together353 recipes

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

  3. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

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

  4. Parsnip + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,109 recipes

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

  5. Pork + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,121 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

Fat salt pork
Renders fat and flavour into the broth as it simmers, adding richness to the stew.
Parsnips
Soften during simmering and thicken the broth slightly, adding natural sweetness.
Potatoes
Break down gradually as they cook, giving the stew body and a starchy texture.

The step that matters

Adding the potatoes at the halfway point. Parsnips need more time to become tender than potatoes cut into quarters would if added at the start. Adding potatoes when parsnips are half done helps both vegetables finish together without turning mushy.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pork, parsnip, potato, pepper):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pork, parsnip, potato, 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.

You might also like

Potato CroquettesPotato Croquettes255 recipesPork CakePork Cake107 recipesRoast PorkRoast Pork82 recipesPotato RollsPotato Rolls78 recipes