Why it works: Mint and peas are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,137 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
Buck Stewed
Ingredients
Directions
In a stew pan, melt the butter over medium heat.
Add the onions and fry until browned.
Mix the flour with a little cold broth until smooth, then add to the pan.
Gradually stir in the beef gravy and add the duck.
Add the chopped sage and mint, then let it simmer slowly for 20 minutes.
If the duck is whole, turn it over and add the shelled peas.
Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
Once the peas are cooked, stir in the cream if desired.
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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Mint + peastop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,137 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Sage + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,388 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Sage + minttop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together138 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the mint
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, onion, flour, beef, sage, peas, pepper):
- Thymefits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Mintthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, onion, flour, beef, sage, peas, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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