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Soups and Broths

A hearty broth made from veal, mutton shanks, game or poultry trimmings, carrots, celery, onions, leeks, and turnip, simmered for hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Leek and turnip match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,046 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Soups and Broths

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Combine the veal, shanks, trimmings, carrot, celery, onions, leeks, and turnip in a large pot.

  2. Heat over a brisk fire until it catches but does not burn.

Make the broth

  1. Add 5 quarts of soft water and bring to a boil, then skim off the scum.

  2. Add 1 pint of cold water to remove more scum.

  3. Reduce heat and simmer slowly for 4 hours.

Finish

  1. Remove from heat and let settle.

  2. Skim off the fat and strain the soup.

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. Leek + turniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,046 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  3. Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,002 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Carrot + leektop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,310 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

Veal knuckle or scrag
Releases gelatin and savoury flavour into the broth during long simmering.
Mutton shanks or leg knuckle
Adds rich meaty flavour and body to the broth as it simmers.
Onions
Contribute sweetness and aromatic depth to the broth base.
Celery
Adds a fresh, aromatic vegetable flavour to the broth.
Leeks
Add mild onion-like sweetness and aroma to the broth.

The step that matters

Skimming the scum. Scum is coagulated protein and impurities that rise as the liquid heats. Skimming it early keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting, which is why it is done after the boil and again after adding cold water.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, mutton, meat, carrot, celery, leek, turnip):

  1. Parsnipfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Lettucefits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, mutton, meat, carrot, celery, leek, turnip. 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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