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Soup

Brown Stock

A brown stock made from beef, chicken, rabbit, and vegetables simmered for 7 hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,053 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Brown Stock

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a large pot.

  2. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer gently for 7 hours.

  3. Skim off any scum that rises to the surface.

  4. Strain the stock and let it cool.

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. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

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

  2. Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,002 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Turnip + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Beef + chickentop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,148 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  5. Onion + turniptop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef steak trimmings
Release gelatin and meaty flavor into the stock during long simmering.
Uncooked cutlets trimmings
Add meaty flavor and body to the stock as they simmer.
Chicken giblets
Contribute gelatin and savory depth to the stock.
Bacon rind
Adds smoky, savory fat and flavor to the stock.
Onion
Adds aromatic sweetness and savory depth as it cooks down.
Carrot
Adds subtle sweetness and aroma to the stock.

The step that matters

Skim off any scum that rises to the surface.. Scum is coagulated protein and impurities that cloud the stock and can taste bitter if left in. Removing it as it forms keeps the finished stock clear and clean-tasting.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, chicken, rabbit, onion, carrot, turnip, parsley):

  1. Leekfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Parsnipfits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, chicken, rabbit, onion, carrot, turnip, 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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