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Mock Turtle Soup of Calf's Head

A soup made from calf's head, onions, wine, mushroom ketchup, and browned flour butter roux.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Mary Randolph · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and parsley 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 ↓

Mock Turtle Soup of Calf's Head

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the head

  1. Clean a large calf's head, leaving the skin on.

  2. Separate the chop from the front of the head.

  3. Remove the tongue (best when salted).

Make the broth

  1. Place the head in a pot with a gallon of water, a hock of ham or a piece of nice pork, four or five onions, thyme, parsley, cloves, nutmeg, pepper, and salt.

  2. Boil until the flesh on the head is quite tender.

  3. Remove the head, cut into small pieces.

  4. Carefully remove the eyes.

  5. Strain the broth.

  6. Add half a pint of wine and a gill of mushroom ketchup.

  7. Let it boil slowly until reduced to two quarts.

Thicken and serve

  1. Thicken with two spoonfuls of browned flour rubbed into four ounces of butter.

  2. Return the meat to the pot and stew for a short time.

  3. Serve.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

913Calories
44 gProtein
28 gFat
113 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 13 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Pork100g cooked242
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Mushroom1/2 cup sliced (35g)15
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot 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 Mary Randolph. 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. Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Mushroom + thymetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  3. Onion + thymetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,171 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,525 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

  5. Wine + mushroomtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,632 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-propylphenol (allspice, anise).

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

What each ingredient does

Calf's head (in the method)
Provides the meat and gelatin that give the soup its body and richness.
Butter
Combined with browned flour to form a roux that thickens the soup.
Browned flour
Thickens the broth and adds a toasted, nutty flavor.
Wine
Adds acidity and depth of flavor to the broth.
Mushroom catsup
Adds savory, umami depth to the broth.

The step that matters

Boil until the flesh on the head is quite tender. Simmering gently and long enough breaks down collagen and connective tissue into gelatin, so the meat becomes tender and the broth gets its body. Too little time leaves it tough and thin.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, pork, wine, mushroom, flour, thyme, parsley):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Chivefits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, pork, wine, mushroom, flour, thyme, 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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