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Rabbit Broth

A clear broth made by simmering rabbit, beef, onion, turnip, bay leaf, parsley, peppercorns, and salt for 3.5 hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Turnip and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,842 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Rabbit Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a saucepan, combine 3 quarts of cold spring water.

  2. Wash the rabbit well, joint it, and add it to the saucepan.

  3. Cut the beef steak into small pieces and add to the pan.

Make the broth

  1. Slowly bring to a boil, adding salt and peppercorns just before boiling.

  2. Skim the broth well.

  3. Once boiling, add the vegetables and herbs.

  4. Allow to simmer for 3.5 hours.

  5. Strain the broth and cool it to remove the fat.

Serve

  1. For serving, add chopped parsley or about 1 ounce of boiled rice.

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

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Onion + beeftop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

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

  5. Rabbit + beeftop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together252 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Rabbit
Provides the main meat flavor and body of the broth as it cooks.
Beef steak
Adds extra meat richness and savory depth to the broth.
Onion
Contributes savory sweetness and aroma as it softens in the simmering liquid.
Turnip
Adds mild sweetness and vegetable flavor to the broth.

The step that matters

Skim the broth well. Foam and impurities rise to the surface as the liquid heats. Removing them early keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting, and it is easier before the long simmer.

Swap the parsley

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

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

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