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Soup

Pot-au-eeu De Maison , Ou Bouillon Restaurant

A hearty beef and veal broth simmered with vegetables and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Turnip and leek match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,046 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Pot-au-eeu De Maison , Ou Bouillon Restaurant

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare the pot

  1. Combine the beef, veal shank, and half-roasted chicken in a large pot.

  2. Add 3 liters of cold water and place the pot over heat.

  3. Skim the surface gently as it heats.

Simmer

  1. Add salt, carrots, turnip, leeks, and the bouquet of celery.

  2. Add the onion with the clove and bring to a simmer.

  3. Let it simmer for 5 hours without interruption.

Finish and serve

  1. Remove the vegetables and trim them carefully.

  2. Taste the broth and adjust seasoning with salt.

  3. Skim off any fat, then serve the soup with the vegetables on top.

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. Turnip + leektop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,046 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

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

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Carrot + leektop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,310 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef chuck
Slow simmering breaks down connective tissue, making the meat tender and enriching the broth.
Veal shank
Its collagen and bones release gelatin, giving the broth body and a silky mouthfeel.
Half-roasted chicken
Adds savoury flavour and extra body to the broth as it simmers with the meats.
Carrots
Contribute natural sweetness and aroma to the broth while staying firm enough to serve.
Leeks
Add a mild onion-like aroma and sweetness to the broth.
Turnip
Adds mild sweetness and earthy flavour to the broth and vegetables.

The step that matters

Keep the simmer gentle and skim the surface. Boiling vigorously emulsifies fat and proteins into the broth, making it cloudy and greasy. A gentle simmer with regular skimming keeps the broth clear and well flavoured over the long cook.

Swap the clove

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

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, veal, chicken, carrot, turnip, leek, 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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