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Soup

Crotopo Soup

A clear soup with veal, ham, egg yolk, and seasoned bread rolls baked and served with broth.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 13,015 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Crotopo Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the meat

  1. Pound the veal in a mortar.

  2. Add ham with some fat in it, the egg yolk, salt, pepper, and very little nutmeg, and pound some more.

  3. Pass through a sieve.

Bake and serve

  1. Cut the rolls into slices and spread them with the meat mixture.

  2. Place them in the oven and bake until colored.

  3. Cut the rolls in halves or quarters, and place them in a tureen.

  4. Just before serving, pour a very good clear broth over them.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

793Calories
47 gProtein
21 gFat
98 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 8 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Pork100g cooked242
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Soupnot in our table0
Vealnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

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

  2. Ham + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).

  3. Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together22,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  4. Nutmeg + breadtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,997 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Veal
Forms the main body of the meat mixture, giving it a firm, savory texture when pounded.
Egg yolk
Binds the pounded meat mixture so it holds together and spreads on the rolls.
Ham
Adds salty, savory flavour and fat to the meat mixture.
French bread rolls
Act as the base that soaks up broth and carries the topping.

The step that matters

Baking until colored. The meat topping must brown without drying out. Too little heat leaves it pale and raw-textured, while too long in the oven dries the spread and toughens the protein. Watch the colour closely.

Swap the nutmeg

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

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Marjoramfits about as well
  3. Nutmegthe original
  4. Sagefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, ham, egg, pepper, bread. 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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