Why it works: Carrot and turnip match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,002 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Stock
Ingredients
Directions
In a large pot, combine the beef and water.
Add the coarse sea salt and bring to a boil, skimming frequently.
Once no more scum rises, add the carrots, turnips, and onions with cloves stuck in them.
Boil for 4 to 5 hours, skimming off any fat that rises to the top.
Strain the stock through a double sieve and store in a cool place.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,002 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,873 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Turnip + oniontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,585 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Turnip + clovetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,233 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21,601 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef
- Releases flavor and gelatin into the water, giving the stock its body and savory depth.
- Carrots
- Add natural sweetness and aromatic flavor to the stock as they simmer.
- Onions
- Contribute sweetness and savory aroma as they cook down in the stock.
- Turnips
- Add subtle sweetness and earthy flavor to the broth during the long simmer.
The step that matters
Skimming the scum and fat. Scum that rises during the first boil and fat released later can make the stock cloudy and greasy. Skimming them off keeps the broth clearer and cleaner tasting.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, carrot, turnip, onion):
- Celeryfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Thymefits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, carrot, turnip, onion. 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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