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Soup Stock

A hearty beef, veal, and mutton stock simmered with root vegetables and aromatics.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Soup Stock

Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Soup Stock

Ingredients

Directions

Make the stock

  1. Combine the beef, beef shank, veal, mutton, carrots, turnips, onions, celery tops, bay leaves, and salt in a large pot.

  2. Add 6 quarts of water and bring to a boil.

  3. Reduce heat and simmer slowly for 6 hours.

Strain and chill

  1. Strain the stock through a sieve.

  2. Let the stock cool overnight to congeal.

  3. Skim off all the grease before serving.

Finish

  1. Season to taste and add sherry or Madeira if desired.

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. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,002 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Turnip + celerytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,418 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Turnip + oniontop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 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

Lean beef
Releases gelatin and savory meaty flavor into the water during long simmering.
Beef shank
Its connective tissue breaks down into gelatin, giving the stock body and a setting texture.
Veal
Adds gelatin and a delicate meaty flavor to the stock.
Mutton
Adds deeper meaty flavor and richness to the stock.
Onions
Contribute sweetness and aromatic depth as they cook down in the stock.
Carrots
Add gentle sweetness and color to the stock.

The step that matters

Skimming the grease after chilling. Fat rises and solidifies on top of the cooled stock; removing it cleanly keeps the stock clear and prevents a greasy mouthfeel.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, veal, mutton, carrot, turnip, celery):

  1. Leekfits better
  2. Parsnipfits better
  3. Onionthe original
  4. Potatofits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, veal, mutton, carrot, turnip, celery. 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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