Why it works: Onion and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,518 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
White Stock
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Break the bones and remove all the fat.
Cut the meat into small pieces and place in a saucepan with the salt and cold water.
Bring slowly to a boil and skim thoroughly.
Simmer and strain
Add the onion, celery, white pepper, celery salt, and mace.
Allow to simmer very gently for five hours.
Strain the stock and, when cold, remove the fat.
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.
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.
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Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,518 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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White pepper + macetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,695 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
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Onion + macetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,078 recipes
Shared aroma: eugenol (clove, spicy).
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White pepper + celerytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together853 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
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Celery + macetop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,769 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Knuckle of veal, rabbit, or fowl bones
- Releases collagen and flavor into the water, giving the stock body and a rich mouthfeel.
- Water
- Extracts gelatin and flavor from the bones and meat as it simmers.
- Onion
- Adds aromatic sweetness and depth to the stock.
The step that matters
Skim thoroughly after bringing to a boil. Coagulated proteins and fat rise to the surface as the water heats. Removing them early keeps the stock clear and free of greasy, cloudy residue.
Swap the white pepper
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, onion, celery, mace):
- Parsleyfits better
- Thymefits better
- Marjoramfits better
- White pepperthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, onion, celery, mace. 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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