Why it works: Onion and carrot are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 21,601 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Beep Stock
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Chop the bone in the meat into small pieces.
Remove the marrow from the bones.
Put the meat and bones into a stock pot and cover with cold water.
Simmer and strain
Bring to a boil and add salt to remove scum.
Add peppercorns, onion, and carrots.
Reduce heat and let it simmer for 5 to 6 hours.
Strain through a colander and cool.
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 + carrottop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21,601 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + carrottop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,606 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Leg of beef
- Bones and meat release gelatin and savory flavor into the water during long simmering.
- Onion
- Adds sweetness and aromatic depth to the broth as it cooks.
- Carrots
- Contribute natural sweetness and aroma to the stock.
The step that matters
Skimming scum after the boil. Bringing the water to a boil with salt helps coagulate and lift impurities that rise as foam. Removing them early keeps the stock clear and less cloudy, as the scum would otherwise break down and mix into the liquid during the long simmer.
Swap the carrot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, onion):
- Potatofits better
- Chivefits better
- Leekfits about as well
- Carrotthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, onion. 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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