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Hotch Potch

A hearty stew of mutton, ox foot, vegetables, and peas simmered for hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Cabbage and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,081 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Hotch Potch

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash and cut the mutton and ox foot into pieces.

  2. Combine the meat and cold water in a pot and bring to a boil.

  3. Add the sliced vegetables and a little pepper.

Cook the stew

  1. Cook gently in a covered pot for three hours.

  2. Boil the cabbage separately for a few minutes, then drain and shred it.

  3. Add the cabbage to the pot and cook for an additional 15 minutes.

  4. Season to taste and stir in the cooked peas, which should be prepared in another vessel.

  5. Remove the bones from the mutton and ox foot before serving.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,081 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Carrot + cabbagetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,505 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Onion + cabbagetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,001 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

What each ingredient does

Mutton
Provides rich meaty flavor and tender texture as it simmers slowly.
Ox foot
Adds body and gelatin, giving the broth a richer mouthfeel.
Dried green peas or split yellow peas
Thicken the stew and add starchy body and earthy flavor.
Cabbage
Adds mild sweetness and soft texture as it cooks into the broth.

The step that matters

Cook gently in a covered pot. A gentle simmer keeps the meat tender and prevents the broth turning cloudy or the meat tightening and toughening from hard boiling.

Swap the peas

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, carrot, onion, cabbage, pepper):

  1. Beansfits better
  2. Lentilsfits about as well
  3. Chestnutfits about as well
  4. Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, carrot, onion, cabbage, pepper. 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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