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Irish Stew

A hearty stew of mutton chops, potatoes, onions, and seasonings simmered slowly in broth.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 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

  1. Peel, slice, and parboil the potatoes, then discard the water.

  2. Trim some fat from the mutton chops, leaving 2 pounds.

Layer and stew

  1. In a pot, layer potatoes, mutton, onions, and seasonings, repeating layers.

  2. Top with potatoes and fill the pot completely.

  3. Add broth and mushroom ketchup.

  4. Cover and stew slowly for 1.5 hours, ensuring it does not burn.

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

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

  3. Potato + mushroomtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together968 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  4. Onion + mushroomtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,626 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 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 chops
Provides the meat and rich, savory flavor that the stew is built around.
Potatoes
Thicken the stew as they break down and give body and starchy substance to the dish.
Onions
Soften during slow stewing, adding sweetness and depth to the broth.
Broth or gravy
Supplies the liquid that cooks the layers and carries the seasoning through the pot.
Mushroom ketchup
Adds concentrated savory, umami flavor to the liquid.

The step that matters

Cover and stew slowly for 1.5 hours. Low, gentle heat lets the meat turn tender and the potatoes soften without scorching on the base. Too much heat or too little liquid can cause the bottom to burn before the top is cooked through.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, onion, ham, pepper, mushroom, ketchup):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Carrotfits better
  4. Potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, onion, ham, pepper, mushroom, ketchup. 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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