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Irish Stew

A hearty stew of beef or mutton, potatoes, onions, and seasonings simmered in water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Irish Stew

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

Prepare the meat and onions

  1. Cut the meat into bite-sized pieces.

  2. Peel the onions, slicing them into rings.

  3. Combine the meat, onions, salt, pepper, and cold water in a saucepan.

  4. Bring to a boil, skimming off any scum.

  5. Reduce to a simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Prepare and cook the potatoes

  1. Scrub and wash the potatoes. Peel them thinly. Remove any eyes. Wash again.

  2. In another saucepan, add cold water and 1 teaspoon of salt. Add the potatoes. Boil gently for 5 minutes.

  3. Strain the potatoes. Steam and dry the potatoes.

  4. Place the potatoes on top of the meat in the stew. Let it simmer for an additional 30 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally to prevent burning.

Serve

  1. When done, arrange the potatoes around a hot dish, with the meat, onions, and gravy in the center. Serve very hot.

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.

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.

  1. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  2. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

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

  3. Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,052 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  4. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

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

  5. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

What each ingredient does

Beef or mutton
Long simmering softens the meat and builds rich, savory flavor in the stew.
Potatoes
Starch thickens the cooking liquid and the potatoes soften into a hearty, filling base.
Onions
Break down during simmering, adding sweetness and body to the gravy.

The step that matters

Skimming the scum after boiling. Scum rising at the start is coagulated protein and impurities. Removing it keeps the gravy clear and free of off flavors.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, potato, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits about as well
  2. Tomatofits about as well
  3. Carrotfits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, potato, 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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