Name: Frbnoh Stew
Ingredients: 1 lb beefsteak; 1 lb porksteak; 6 large onions; Salt and pepper to taste; 1 teaspoon ground cloves; French's White Lily flour; Cold water

Why it works: Pepper and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Frbnoh Stew

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Cut the beefsteak and porksteak into small pieces.

Layer and season

In a kettle, layer the beefsteak, followed by a layer of onions, then another layer of meat.
Season the layers with salt, pepper, and ground cloves.
Sprinkle with French's White Lily flour.
Cover the ingredients with cold water.

Simmer

Let the stew simmer for about three hours.

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.

Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together17,451 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together16,901 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Clove + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,671 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Onion + flourtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together32,460 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Beefsteak: Provides the main meat, which becomes tender during the long simmer.
Porksteak: Adds meat and richness to the stew as it cooks slowly.
Onions: Soften and turn sweet during simmering, adding body to the broth.
French's white lily flour: Thickens the cooking liquid as starch absorbs moisture and swells.