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Soup

Chicken Broth

A clear broth made from chicken, water, leeks or onion, almonds, mace, and salt, simmered for two hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Chicken Broth

Why it works: Leek and almond share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17 recipes. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓

Chicken Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Break up and pound the chicken meat and bones.

Simmer

  1. Place the chicken, water, leeks or onion, almonds, mace, and salt in a stew-pan.

  2. Stir the broth until it boils.

  3. Skim carefully.

  4. Remove from heat and let simmer for 2 hours.

Strain and serve

  1. Strain the broth and let it cool.

  2. Serve immediately with slices of hot toast.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Leek + almondtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  2. Chicken + leektop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together165 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity).

  3. Chicken + almondtop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together838 recipes

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

  4. Almond + macetop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,010 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  5. Leek + macetop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together209 recipes

    Shared aroma: eugenol (clove, spicy).

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken
Gives the broth its meaty flavour and body as it simmers.
Almonds
Add a subtle richness and body to the broth.
Leeks or onion
Contribute savoury, aromatic sweetness to the broth.

The step that matters

Skim carefully. Skimming removes foam and fat that rise as the broth comes to a boil and simmers. Removing them keeps the broth clear and prevents a greasy, cloudy result.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, leek, almond):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Garlicfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, leek, almond. 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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