Why it works: Beef and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,052 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓
Lean Beef Stew
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the lean beef into small pieces, discarding any gristle.
Stew the beef slowly in plenty of water in a covered saucepan for two hours.
Skim off the fat from the surface.
Add small potatoes, ensuring you have enough for the number of servings needed.
Cook the potatoes until tender, just as the beef is done.
Before serving, season with black pepper and coarse sea salt.
Ensure the water has reduced to a gravy without burning.
If desired, stir in the seasoning using an iron spoon that has had a pinch of sugar burned in it.
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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Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,052 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Potato + peppertop 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).
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Potato + sugartop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Pepper + sugartop 32% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,401 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Pepper and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,401 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper, sugar):
- Capsicumfits better
- Carrotfits about as well
- Tomatofits about as well
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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