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Veal Stock

A savory stock made from veal, bacon, vegetables, herbs, and seasonings, simmered and strained.

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

Veal Stock

Ingredients

Directions

Make the stock

  1. Combine chopped bacon and veal with 1 pint of water or beef stock in a stewpan.

  2. Simmer for 30 minutes.

  3. Add 2 quarts of stock, onion, carrot, bouquet of herbs, celery, bruised peppers, nutmeg, and salt.

  4. Boil gently for 2 hours, skimming off any scum.

Strain and skim

  1. Strain the mixture into an earthen crock and let it cool.

  2. Once cool, remove the fat from the 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. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

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

  3. Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

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

  4. Carrot + nutmegtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,424 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  5. Onion + carrottop 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

Veal neck
Breaks down into gelatin and body, giving the stock a rich, full texture.
Bacon
Adds fat and savory smoky depth to the stock's flavor base.
Onion
Contributes sweetness and aroma as it cooks into the stock.
Carrot
Adds subtle sweetness and aroma to the stock's flavor base.
Celery
Adds aromatic vegetal flavor to the stock's flavor base.

The step that matters

Skimming during the long boil. Scum rises from the proteins and impurities released by the meat. Removing it keeps the stock clear and prevents off, bitter flavors from mixing back in.

Swap the nutmeg

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, beef, onion, carrot, celery, 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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