Name: Beef Stew
Ingredients: 2 pounds beef, cut into small pieces; 4 cups peas (or 1 can of peas); 4 potatoes, quartered; 1 cup carrots, chopped; 1 teaspoon salt; 2 quarts water

Why it works: Potato and carrot 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 beef in its own fat in a large pot.
Add 2 quarts of water and simmer for 1 hour.
Add the peas and carrots, and cook for 30 minutes.
If using canned peas, add them 10 minutes before serving.
Finally, add the quartered potatoes and cook until tender.

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.

Potato + carrottop 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).
Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,052 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Peas + potatotop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,016 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Beef + carrottop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,606 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: Provides the main protein and rich flavor as it browns and slowly simmers.
Potatoes: Add starch that softens during cooking and thickens the stew slightly.
Carrots: Add natural sweetness and firm texture that holds up to long simmering.
Peas: Add color, sweetness and a tender texture at the end of cooking.