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Pot-au-feu

A traditional French stew of beef, liver, root vegetables, and leeks simmered in salted water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Turnip and leek match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,046 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Pot-au-feu

Ingredients

Directions

Start the broth

  1. Place 6 pounds of beef in a large pot.

  2. Add 4 quarts of water and set near the fire.

  3. Skim the surface when nearly boiling.

  4. Add 1½ tablespoons of coarse sea salt.

Add the vegetables and simmer

  1. Incorporate ½ pound of liver, 2 carrots, 4 turnips, 8 young leeks (or 2 old), 1 head of celery, 2 onions, 1 burnt onion (with a clove in each), and 1 parsnip.

  2. Skim again, then let simmer.

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.

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. Turnip + leektop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,046 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Turnip + parsniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together590 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Leek + parsniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together165 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Carrot + parsniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,097 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  5. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 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

Beef
Releases flavor and collagen during slow simmering, giving the broth body and richness.
Liver
Adds a deep, savory flavor to the broth.
Burnt onion
Contributes colour and a smoky, roasted aroma to the broth.
Carrots
Add gentle sweetness that balances the savory beef and liver.
Leeks
Add mild onion-like sweetness and aroma to the broth.

The step that matters

Skimming the surface. As the liquid nears boiling, proteins and fat rise as foam. Skimming removes them, keeping the broth clear and preventing a greasy, cloudy result.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, liver, carrot, turnip, leek, celery, parsnip):

  1. Beetrootfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Lettucefits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, liver, carrot, turnip, leek, celery, parsnip. 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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