Name: Beef Stew
Ingredients: 1 teaspoon salt; 2 quarts water; meat (any kind, cut into small pieces); fat from the meat; peas; carrots; potatoes (cut into pieces)

Why it works: Carrot and potato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,107 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓

Beef Stew

Ingredients

Directions

Brown the meat in the fat from the meat.
Simmer the browned meat in 2 quarts of water for 1 hour.
Add the peas and carrots, and cook for 30 minutes.
If using canned peas, add them 10 minutes before serving.
Serve when the potatoes are done.

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.

Carrot + potatotop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,107 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Peas + carrottop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,994 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Peas + potatotop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,016 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Meat + potatotop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together786 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Meat + peastop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together573 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Meat: Provides the main protein and savory flavor once browned and simmered.
Potatoes: Add starch and body, thickening the stew as they cook.
Carrots: Add natural sweetness and firm texture that holds up during simmering.
Peas: Add color and a mild sweetness, cooked gently so they stay tender.