Why it works: Beef and onion 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 ↓
Hare Soup
Ingredients
Directions
In a large pot, combine the hare, beef, bacon, herbs, onions, and boiling water.
Simmer until the hare is tender and falling apart.
Season with cayenne, soy sauce, and salt to taste.
Serve with force-meat balls.
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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Beef + oniontop 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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Onion + saucetop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,474 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Beef + saucetop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,650 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Onion and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,474 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
- Hare
- Provides the main meat flavour and, as it simmers, breaks down into tender pieces.
- Lean beef
- Adds meaty body to the broth as it cooks down over a long simmer.
- Bacon
- Adds savoury fat that flavours the broth as it renders during simmering.
- Onions
- Release sweetness and aromatic depth into the broth as they cook.
The step that matters
Simmer until the hare is tender and falling apart. Old hare is tough, and collagen in the connective tissue only softens into gelatin with long, gentle simmering. Rushing this step or boiling hard leaves the meat stringy and the broth thin.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper, sauce):
- Capsicumfits better
- Tomatofits better
- Onionthe original
- Carrotfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against 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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