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A Soup From the Bones of Roast Beef

A clear soup made by simmering roast beef bones with onion, tomatoes, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

A Soup From the Bones of Roast Beef

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. Crack the bones and place them in a covered kettle with the cold water.

  2. Simmer slowly for 1 hour.

  3. Add the sliced onion and tomatoes, then boil for 2 hours over moderate heat.

Finish and serve

  1. Remove the bones before pouring the soup into the tureen.

  2. Season with salt and pepper to taste before serving.

  3. If desired, thin the soup with additional water and boil for 15 minutes.

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.

  1. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  2. Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

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

  3. 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

Beef bones (in the method)
Release collagen and flavor into the water as they simmer, giving the broth body and savoriness.
Onion
Adds aromatic sweetness and depth to the broth as it cooks.
Tomatoes
Add acidity and savory flavor, and break down to thicken the soup slightly.

The step that matters

Simmer slowly for 1 hour. Gentle heat extracts collagen and flavor from the bones without clouding the broth. A hard, rapid boil emulsifies fats and proteins, making the soup cloudy and greasy.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, pepper):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Eggplantfits better
  3. Carrotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, 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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