Name: A Genuine Irish Stew
Ingredients: 2 pounds neck of mutton, trimmed of fat; 4 large potatoes, peeled and sliced; 8 large onions, sliced; coarse sea salt, to taste; black pepper, to taste; water or stock, as needed

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 ↓

A Genuine Irish Stew

Ingredients

2 pounds neck of mutton, trimmed of fat
4 large potatoes, peeled and sliced
8 large onions, sliced
coarse sea salt, to taste
black pepper, to taste
water or stock, as needed

Directions

Prepare

Cut the mutton into chops and trim off excess fat.
Slice the potatoes and onions.

Layer and cook

Layer half of the potatoes and onions in a stew-pan.
Place the mutton on top and season with salt and pepper.
Cover the meat with the remaining potatoes and onions.
Add enough water or stock to moisten the top layer.
Cover the stew-pan tightly and simmer for 3 hours without lifting the lid.

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).
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,305 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together5,442 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Mutton + oniontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,531 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Mutton: Provides the meat, whose connective tissue softens into tender bites during long simmering.
Potatoes: Form the base and top layers, thickening the broth as their starch releases during cooking.
Onions: Add sweetness and savory depth as they soften and melt into the broth.

The step that matters

Simmering with the lid on. Keeping the lid tightly closed traps steam so the stew cooks gently in its own moisture. Lifting the lid lets heat and moisture escape, slowing the softening of the meat and disturbing the layers.

Swap the onion

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

Carrotfits better
Capsicumfits better
Tomatofits about as well
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, 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.

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Potato Croquettes255 recipes

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Haricot Mutton59 recipes

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A Genuine Irish Stew