Name: Roast Beef and Barley Stew
Ingredients: 1 pint cold roast beef, sliced; 1 cup boiled barley; 3-4 slices cold boiled potatoes; ¼ teaspoon salt; 2 cups water

Why it works: Barley and potato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 165 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Roast Beef and Barley Stew

Ingredients

Directions

In a stewpan, combine the sliced roast beef, boiled barley, cold boiled potatoes, salt, and water.
Simmer for 10 minutes.

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.

Barley + potatotop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together165 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Beef + barleytop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together458 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,052 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

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

What each ingredient does

Roast beef: Provides the main meat flavor, and its protein firms slightly as it simmers.
Boiled barley: Absorbs liquid and releases starch, thickening the stew and giving it a chewy texture.
Boiled potatoes: Release starch as they heat, helping thicken the broth and softening into the stew.