Why it works: Pepper and carrot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,555 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Hash Venison
Ingredients
Directions
In a clean saucepan, arrange the venison slices.
Pour the gravy over the venison and let it stand for at least 10 minutes.
Place the saucepan near the heat and bring it slowly to a boil.
Serve the hash immediately in a hot serving dish.
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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Pepper + carrottop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,555 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Venison + hamtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Ham + carrottop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,918 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Pepper + hamtop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,058 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Venison + carrottop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together169 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Venison
- Forms the meaty body of the hash; thin slices cook through quickly and stay tender when heated gently.
- Strong thickened brown gravy
- Provides moisture, savoury flavour and body that coats the venison slices.
The step that matters
Bringing the hash slowly to a boil. Heating gently lets the thin venison slices warm through without toughening, while the gravy thickens smoothly rather than scorching or breaking on the base of the pan.
Swap the carrot
The recipe marks carrot as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (venison, pepper, ham):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Mustardfits about as well
- Carrotthe original
- Onionfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against venison, pepper, ham. 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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