Why it works: Potato and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,855 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Beef Stew
Ingredients
Directions
Make white sauce as per recipe.
Add beef and potatoes to the sauce and warm through.
Season with salt to taste.
Serve with chopped parsley or chives if desired.
For curry beef stew, add curry powder 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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Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,855 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,052 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Beef + parsleytop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,866 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Sauce + parsleytop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,693 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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
Swap the parsley
The recipe marks parsley as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, potato, sauce):
- Garlicfits better
- Capersfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
- Celeryfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, potato, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
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