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 ↓
Irish Stew
Ingredients
Directions
In a saucepan, combine the mutton chops, potatoes, minced onions, pepper, salt, and cold water.
Cover the pan tightly and bring to a boil.
Once boiling, reduce the heat and let it simmer gently for 2 to 3 hours.
Before serving, stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons of ketchup.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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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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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Pepper + muttontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,442 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Onion + muttontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
- Potatoes
- Break down during the long simmer to thicken the stew and give it body.
- Onions
- Soften and turn sweet as they cook, adding depth to the broth.
- Mutton chops
- Release fat and meat juices into the broth, giving the stew its rich flavour.
- Ketchup
- Adds sweetness and acidity to season the finished stew.
The step that matters
Simmer gently, do not boil hard. A hard boil toughens the meat and can break the potatoes apart. A gentle simmer lets the mutton become tender while the broth stays clear and the potatoes hold their shape.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, pepper, ketchup, mutton):
- Capsicumfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Turnipfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against onion, pepper, ketchup, mutton. 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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