Why it works: Onion and beef are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Savoury Stew
Ingredients
Directions
Start the onions
Melt the butter in a pan.
Slice in the onions and cook until they yield juice.
Stew the beef
Add the cut-up beef and season to taste.
Cover the pan and let it stew without lifting the lid.
Occasionally shake the pan to mix.
Finish the gravy
Thicken the gravy as desired 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 + beeftop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 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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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together15,338 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + oniontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 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
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Adds fat and flavour to start the pan and help the onions cook gently.
- Onions
- Release their juice as they cook, adding moisture, body and mild sweetness to the gravy.
- Beef
- Main protein; slow cooking in its own juices softens connective tissue and makes it tender.
The step that matters
Cover the pan and let it stew without lifting the lid.. Lifting the lid lets steam and heat escape, which lowers the pan temperature and slows the softening of the beef. Keeping the lid on holds heat and moisture in so the meat becomes tender.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, beef, pepper, sauce):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Tomatofits about as well
- Onionthe original
- Potatofits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, beef, pepper, sauce. 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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