Why it works: Onion and potato 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 ↓
Economical Stew
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the beef
Season the sliced cold beef with salt and pepper.
Dredge the seasoned beef lightly in flour.
Stew
Place the beef in a stew pan with cold gravy or a little water.
Add the finely sliced onion and diced potatoes.
Stew gently until the meat is tender.
If using water instead of gravy, add a little butter rolled in flour a few minutes before serving.
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.
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Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,052 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Pepper + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 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
- Cold beef
- Provides the meat that becomes tender during slow stewing.
- Flour
- Coats the beef and later thickens the cooking liquid into a light sauce.
- Potatoes
- Add starch that softens during stewing and gives the stew body.
- Onion
- Adds sweetness and savour as it softens into the stew.
- Butter
- Adds richness, and with flour helps thicken the liquid when water is used.
The step that matters
Stew gently until the meat is tender. Boiling vigorously toughens the muscle fibres of cheaper cuts. A gentle simmer lets collagen slowly break down into gelatin, which makes the meat tender and the sauce silky.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper, flour, potato, butter):
- Chivefits about as well
- Onionthe original
- Leekfits about as well
- Carrotfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, flour, potato, butter. 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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