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Consomme Anx Cates D’ltalie

A clear soup made with veal shank, ham bone, tomatoes, and alphabet pasta, seasoned with pepper and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and pasta are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,622 recipes. Both carry nonanal, which smells fat, citrus. The science ↓

Consomme Anx Cates D’ltalie

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the stock

  1. Prepare 3 quarts of soup stock by boiling fresh meat bones and vegetables in water.

  2. Roast the veal shank in the oven at 400°F (200°C) until nicely browned, basting with butter.

  3. Add the roasted veal to the stock and include the ham bone and broken tomatoes.

  4. Season with black pepper and salt, and cook for about 1 hour.

Clarify and serve

  1. Strain the stock into a jar, remove the grease, and clarify using a broth napkin or jelly bag.

  2. Reheat the clarified consomme over low heat.

  3. Cook the alphabet pasta in boiling water for 15 minutes, drain, and add to the consomme.

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. Tomato + pastatop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,622 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  2. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  3. Pasta + peppertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,091 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  4. Veal + hamtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,264 recipes

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

  5. Veal + tomatotop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together709 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

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

What each ingredient does

Veal shank
Browning in the oven adds roasted flavor, and its bones and gelatin give the stock body.
Ham knuckle-bone
Contributes smoky, savory depth to the stock during the long simmer.
Tomatoes
Add acidity and a light fruity note that balances the rich meat stock.
Alphabet pasta
Adds a mild starchy bite as the soup's only solid garnish.

The step that matters

Clarifying the consomme. Straining through a broth napkin or jelly bag removes fine particles that would cloud the liquid. Removing the grease first keeps the consomme clear and light. Rushing this step or letting the stock boil hard can leave it cloudy.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, ham, pasta, pepper):

  1. Spinachfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, ham, pasta, 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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