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Beef Soup

A hearty beef soup made with lean beef, bone, vegetables, and seasonings simmered for several hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 17,091 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: egg, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Also mentioned in the method: egg

Directions

Make the broth

  1. Put 1 pound lean beef in a kettle with 1 gallon cold water; let boil slowly for 1 hour.

  2. Add 2 onions, 2 parsnips, 2 carrots, and 8 potatoes cut coarsely.

  3. Boil another hour.

  4. Add a little parsley and 1 level tablespoon flour.

  5. Cook 5 minutes longer.

  6. Season with salt and pepper.

  7. Serve.

Prepare the stock

  1. Cut 5 pounds lean round of beef into inch cubes.

  2. Put the cubes in a kettle and soak on back of stove for an hour.

  3. Take the marrow from a 2 pound bone and brown the rest of the meat with this in a hot pan.

  4. Put all with the bone in the kettle, bring to the boil, skim, and simmer for 5 hours.

  5. Add 1 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon peppercorns, and a cup each of diced carrots, turnips, onions, and celery.

  6. Cook 1 hour.

  7. Strain and cool.

Clear and serve

  1. Skim and clear by adding the beaten white of an egg while heating to serve.

  2. A little caramel or wine may be added.

  3. Serve in cups.

By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. 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. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Beef + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together17,091 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Parsnip + carrottop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,096 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  3. Onion + potatotop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together9,019 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Carrot + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together3,105 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  5. Corn + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together938 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Lean beef
Provides the meat flavour and body of the soup.
Potatoes
Soften and thicken the broth as they cook, adding body.
Flour
Thickens the broth slightly as it cooks.
Egg white (in the method)
Gathers fine particles as it heats, helping clear the broth.

The step that matters

Skim and clear by adding the beaten white of an egg while heating to serve. Scum and fine particles rise to the surface as the broth heats. Stirring in beaten egg white, then letting it coagulate and lifting it out, traps these particles so the broth looks clear instead of cloudy.

Flavor stand-ins for the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper, corn, parsnip, carrot, potato, flour):

  1. Capsicumbetter flavor fit
  2. Tomatobetter flavor fit
  3. Turnipabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, corn, parsnip, carrot, potato, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“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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