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Vegetable Stock for Soups

A clear vegetable stock made by simmering beans, peas, root vegetables, herbs, and spices in water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and parsley 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 ↓

Vegetable Stock for Soups

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a large pot with 2 quarts of cold water.

  2. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 3 to 4 hours, skimming off any foam that forms on the surface.

  3. Strain the mixture to remove solids and let it stand.

  4. Pour off the clear liquid, leaving sediment behind.

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

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

  2. Carrot + celerytop 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. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Haricot beans
Break down during simmering to add body and thicken the stock.
Split peas
Dissolve partly as they cook, adding body and a fuller texture to the liquid.
Turnip
Releases sweetness and mild flavor into the long simmer.
Onion
Adds savory depth and aroma as it softens and gives up its flavor.
Carrot
Contributes gentle sweetness and color to the stock.

The step that matters

Skimming the foam. Foam rising during the boil carries impurities and proteins that can make the stock cloudy and taste bitter. Removing it as it forms keeps the liquid clear and clean-tasting.

Swap the peas

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

  1. Lentilsfits better
  2. Chickpeafits better
  3. Black-eyed peafits better
  4. Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beans, turnip, onion, carrot, celery, 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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