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Bouillon a LA Moderne

A beef broth made by simmering lean beef with bones and vegetables for several hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and carrot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,053 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Bouillon a LA Moderne

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 broth

  1. Combine 4 liters of cold water and 2 kg of lean beef with bones in a pot, filling it three-quarters full.

  2. Bring to a boil, skimming off any foam that forms.

  3. Add ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt, 1 clove, 2 bay leaves, a few peppercorns, 1 celery stalk, 1 parsley root, 1 onion, 1 turnip, and 1 carrot.

  4. Reduce heat and simmer for 3 to 4 hours until you have 3 liters of broth.

Finish

  1. Strain the broth before serving.

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. Parsley + carrottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

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

  2. Celery + carrottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  3. Turnip + carrottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,002 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

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

  5. Celery + turniptop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,418 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

Lean beef with bones
Releases collagen and gelatin into the water, giving the broth body and a rich mouthfeel.
Onion
Adds savory sweetness and aroma as its sugars brown slightly during simmering.
Carrot
Contributes subtle sweetness and aromatic depth to the simmered broth.
Celery stalk
Adds aromatic, vegetal flavor that rounds out the broth.
Parsley root
Adds earthy, herbal aroma to the broth.

The step that matters

Skimming the foam as it comes to a boil. Foam is made of coagulated proteins and impurities. Removing it early keeps the broth clear and prevents off-flavors from being reabsorbed as it simmers.

Swap the clove

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, celery, parsley, onion, turnip, carrot. 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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