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Calf's-foot Broth

A broth made by simmering a calf's foot with water, sugar, nutmeg, butter, and egg yolk.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Isabella Beeton · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 24,377 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Calf's-foot Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. Stew the foot in the water, with the lemon‑peel, very gently, until the liquid is half wasted, removing any scum that rises to the surface.

  2. Set it in a basin until quite cold, then remove every particle of fat.

Finish and thicken

  1. Warm up about 1/2 pint of the broth, adding the butter, sugar, and a very small quantity of grated nutmeg.

  2. Take it off the fire for a minute or two, then add the beaten yolk of the egg.

  3. Keep stirring over the fire until the mixture thickens, but do not allow it to boil again after the egg is added, or it will curdle and spoil the broth.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

241Calories
6 gProtein
18 gFat
14 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 6 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Waternot in our table0
Nutnot 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.

By Isabella Beeton. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together24,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  3. Egg + nutmegtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together24,744 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  4. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Sugar + nutmegtop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together23,364 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Egg and nutmeg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Egg
The beaten yolk thickens the broth as it heats, giving it a richer, silkier body.
Calf's foot
Releases gelatin into the water, giving the broth body and a natural setting quality when cold.
Butter
Adds fat that gives the finished broth a smooth, rich mouthfeel.
Sugar
Adds a small amount of sweetness to balance the savoury broth.

The step that matters

Keep stirring and do not reboil after adding the egg. Egg proteins set when heated, so once the yolk is added the mixture can curdle if it boils. Gentle heat and constant stirring keep it smooth and thickened.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg):

  1. Cinnamonfits about as well
  2. Nutmegthe original
  3. Capersfits less well
  4. Parsleyfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg. 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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