Name: Beef with Curry
Ingredients: 2 pounds beef; 2 slices ham; 1 small apple, chopped; 1 onion, chopped; 1 tomato, chopped; 2 teaspoons curry powder; ½ cup thick gravy; 2 tablespoons thick cream

Why it works: Beef and onion 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 ↓

Beef with Curry

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

In a bowl, mix the beef, ham, apple, onion, tomato, and curry powder.
Add the thick gravy and thick cream, and mix well.
Place the mixture in a cooking bag.

Cook

Cook for 1 hour.

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.

Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Beef + tomatotop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,448 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,633 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Apple + tomatotop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together548 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Beef + hamtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,729 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef: Provides the main protein, which becomes tender and firm as it cooks slowly in the bag.
Ham: Adds salty, savoury flavour that deepens the overall taste of the curry.
Apple: Adds gentle sweetness and acidity that balances the sharp curry spices.
Onion: Adds aroma and body as it softens and releases sweetness during cooking.
Thick cream: Adds fat and richness, giving the sauce a smoother, rounder texture.
Thick gravy: Supplies liquid and savoury body so the mixture stays moist while cooking.