Name: Welsh Stew
Ingredients: beef (proportions as desired); broth or water (proportions as desired); 20 to 30 leeks (white part only) or 24 small button onions; 5 to 6 young mild turnips (sliced); ½ teaspoon white sugar; ¾ teaspoon white pepper; coarse sea salt (to taste)

Why it works: Leek and turnip match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,046 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Welsh Stew

Ingredients

beef (proportions as desired)
broth or water (proportions as desired)
20 to 30 leeks (white part only) or 24 small button onions
5 to 6 young mild turnips (sliced)
½ teaspoon white sugar
¾ teaspoon white pepper
coarse sea salt (to taste)

Directions

In a pot, combine beef and broth or water. Simmer gently for 1 hour.
Add the leeks or onions, sliced turnips, sugar, white pepper, and salt.
Stew the mixture softly for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes.

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.

Leek + turniptop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,046 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Beef + leektop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together659 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity).
Beef + turniptop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,940 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
Turnip + white peppertop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together275 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).
Leek + sugartop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together278 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef: Provides the main body of the stew and savory meaty flavor as it simmers.
Leeks: Soften during stewing and add a mild, sweet onion-like flavor to the broth.
Turnips: Hold their shape during long stewing and add mild, slightly sweet earthiness.