Why it works: Carrot and turnip match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,002 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Irish Stew
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the meat
Wash the meat and discard excess fat.
Cut into small pieces.
Place the meat in a saucepan and cover with 3 cups boiling water.
Boil for 5 minutes.
Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes.
Add the vegetables
Add turnips, carrots, onions, and 1 teaspoon salt.
Cook until meat and vegetables are nearly tender.
Add potatoes and cook for about 10 minutes until tender.
Make the sauce and serve
Drain the stew.
Place the meat and vegetables on a warmed platter.
Measure the liquid; there should be 1½ cups.
If not, add boiling water.
Return the liquid to the saucepan.
Bring to a boil.
Thicken with flour mixed smooth in a little cold water.
Season the sauce.
Pour it over the stew.
Serve hot.
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.
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Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,002 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Carrot + potatotop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,107 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Onion + turniptop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,585 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,555 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
- Neck of mutton
- Provides the main meat, whose fat and connective tissue enrich the broth as it simmers slowly.
- Potatoes
- Break down partly as they cook, adding body and starch that softens the stew.
- Flour
- Starch that thickens the cooking liquid into a smooth, lightly coating sauce.
- Carrots
- Add natural sweetness and firm texture that holds up during long simmering.
- Turnips
- Add a mild, slightly peppery flavour and tender body to the stew.
The step that matters
Thicken with flour mixed smooth in cold water. Flour added directly to hot liquid clumps. Mixing it into cold water first disperses the starch so it thickens the sauce evenly once heated.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, carrot, turnip, potato, flour, pepper):
- Parsnipfits better
- Leekfits better
- Spinachfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, carrot, turnip, potato, flour, pepper. 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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