Why it works: Marjoram and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓
Turtle Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the meat
In a large stewpan, layer the ham, veal, and turtle flesh.
Moisten with the water used to boil the turtle shell and sweat thoroughly.
Check if the meat is done by inserting a knife; if no blood comes out, moisten again with the boiling liquor.
Add the bunch of herbs and the studded onion, and let it cook until done.
Drain the members and set aside for later.
Once the meat is done, drain it onto a dish.
Make the sauce
Make a thin white thickening with flour over a slow fire until it has a good color.
Moisten the flour with the drained liquor and bring the sauce to a boil.
Skim off any scum and fat from the surface of the sauce.
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.
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Marjoram + thymetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,225 recipes
Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).
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Thyme + winter savorytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together780 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Marjoram + winter savorytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together455 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
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Basil + marjoramtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together688 recipes
Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).
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Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,057 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ham
- Adds savory meaty flavor to the broth as it cooks slowly.
- Veal knuckles
- Release gelatin and body into the liquid, giving the soup a richer mouthfeel.
- Turtle flesh
- Forms the main meat of the soup, becoming tender through slow moist cooking.
- Flour
- Thickens the sauce as its starch swells when cooked in liquid.
- Onion
- Contributes aromatic sweetness and depth to the cooking liquor.
The step that matters
Skim off scum and fat. Scum and fat rise to the surface during simmering and can make the sauce greasy and cloudy, so skimming keeps it clean and clear.
Swap the basil
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, veal, marjoram, lemon, thyme, winter savory, parsley):
- Sagefits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Rosemaryfits about as well
- Basilthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against ham, veal, marjoram, lemon, thyme, winter savory, parsley. 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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