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Soup Joumou

A Haitian beef and squash soup with vegetables, simmered after marinating the beef.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 20 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Soup Joumou

Time1½ hours

Ingredients

Directions

Marinate the beef

  1. Purée garlic, scallions, parsley, thyme, shallots, chile, juice, salt and pepper, and ½ cup water in a blender until smooth.

  2. Mix with beef in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

  3. Remove beef from the marination and dry with paper towels. Set aside.

Brown and simmer the beef

  1. Heat oil in an 8 qt saucepan over medium‑high heat.

  2. Add beef; cook, turning as needed, until browned, about 8 minutes.

  3. Add stock and bring to a boil.

  4. Reduce heat to medium, and cook, stirring occasionally, until beef is tender, about 1½ hours.

Add the vegetables and finish

  1. Add carrots, celery, leeks, onion, potatoes, turnips, and cabbage; cook, slightly covered and stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

  2. Meanwhile, bring squash and 2 cups water to a boil in a 2 qt saucepan over high heat.

  3. Reduce heat to medium‑low and cook, covered, until squash is tender, about 10 minutes.

  4. Drain, reserving ½ cup cooking liquid and transfer squash and liquid to a blender; purée until smooth and set aside.

  5. When vegetables are tender, uncover, and stir in reserved squash purée.

  6. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soup is slightly thick, 5–10 minutes more.

  7. Season soup with salt and pepper.

  8. Serve with scallions and lime wedges.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

694Calories
36 gProtein
30 gFat
76 gCarbs

Counts 15 of 17 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 15 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Turnip1 medium (122g)34
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Green Cabbage1 cup shredded (89g)22
Limejuice of 1 lime (44ml)11
Shallot1 tbsp minced (10g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Scotchnot in our table0
Pumpkinnot 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. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Parsley + shallottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,737 recipes

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

  3. Thyme + shallottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,476 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Thyme + limetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together305 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Lime + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,491 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef chuck
Becomes tender during long simmering, giving the soup its main body and savory flavor.
Squash
Puréed into the broth, it thickens the soup and adds sweetness and color.
Potato
Softens and partly breaks down, adding body and starch to the broth.
Scotch bonnet chile
Adds heat and fruity aroma to the marinade that flavors the beef.
Lime juice
Adds acidity that brightens the rich, savory broth.

The step that matters

Brown the beef well. Searing beef over medium-high heat builds browned flavors through the Maillard reaction. Crowding the pan or stopping early leaves the beef gray and the broth flatter.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (garlic, parsley, thyme, shallot, lime, pepper, beef):

  1. Marjoramfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Winter savoryfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against garlic, parsley, thyme, shallot, lime, pepper, beef. 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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