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Pot-au-Feu

A French boiled beef stew with vegetables and broth.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Pot-au-Feu

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

  1. Place the beef in a large pot and cover with water.

  2. Add the chopped vegetables and bouquet garni.

  3. Season with salt and pepper.

Simmer

  1. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 2-3 hours until the meat is tender.

  2. Remove the meat and strain the broth.

Serve

  1. Serve the broth with the vegetables and sliced beef.

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. Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  4. Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,810 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Leek + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together360 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef
Slow simmering in liquid turns tough connective tissue into tender, flavorful meat.
Carrots
Release sweetness and body into the broth as they cook.
Onions
Add savory depth and aroma to the broth.
Leek
Contributes a mild, sweet onion flavor to the broth.
Celery
Adds aromatic, savory background flavor to the broth.

The step that matters

Simmering the beef gently. A rolling boil toughens meat proteins and makes the broth cloudy, while a gentle simmer lets collagen break down slowly into tender meat and a clear, flavorful broth. Keep the heat low and steady for the full 2-3 hours.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, carrot, leek, celery, thyme, parsley, pepper):

  1. Parsnipfits better
  2. Turnipfits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, carrot, leek, celery, thyme, parsley, 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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