Why it works: Onion and carrot are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 21,601 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Ox Tail Soup
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.
Make the soup
Fry the ox tails with the onions and butter until browned.
Add the water and carrots, then boil for 3 hours.
Set aside to cool, then skim the fat off the top.
Thicken and finish
In a skillet, combine the fat with flour and stir until browned.
Add the stock and return to the soup.
Cut the meat off the ox tails into small pieces and place in a tureen.
When ready to serve, add the curry powder and sherry to the soup.
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.
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Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21,601 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Carrot + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,029 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + sherrytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,505 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together42,912 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ox tails
- Provide the meat and rich gelatin that give the soup body and flavor.
- Flour
- Browned in the skimmed fat, it thickens the soup and adds a toasted, nutty note.
- Onions
- Browned with the ox tails, they add sweetness and savory depth to the broth.
- Carrots
- Simmered for hours, they add natural sweetness and body to the broth.
- Sherry
- Added at the end, it adds acidity and aromatic complexity to the finished soup.
The step that matters
Browning the flour in the fat. Flour must be stirred until lightly browned in the fat before the stock goes in. Cooking it develops flavor and removes raw starch taste, and stirring prevents lumps and scorching.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, carrot, flour, sherry):
- Leekfits better
- Parsnipfits better
- Turnipfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, carrot, flour, sherry. 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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