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Bouillon

A clear beef broth made by simmering beef, water, onion, celery, salt, pepper, and an egg white and shell.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Bouillon

Why it works: Celery and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Bouillon

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. Combine the chopped beef, cold water, salt, pepper, chopped onion, and celery in a kettle.

  2. Boil over medium heat for 2 hours.

  3. Increase the heat to boil briskly and skim the surface.

  4. Reduce heat to medium again.

  5. Boil for 4 more hours.

  6. Add the egg white and shell.

  7. Boil for 10 minutes.

  8. Add 1 cup of cold water.

  9. Remove from heat.

Strain and serve

  1. Strain the broth.

  2. Serve in bouillon cups.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

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

  3. Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

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

  5. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 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

Lean beef
Releases flavor and gelatin into the broth as it simmers slowly over long cooking.
Egg white and shell
Coagulates as it heats, collecting fine particles so the broth clears.
Celery
Adds aromatic, savory flavor to the broth during long simmering.
Onion
Adds aromatic sweetness and savory depth to the broth.

The step that matters

Skim the surface when boiling briskly. Foam and fat rising to the surface can cloud the broth and give it an greasy taste, so removing them keeps the broth clear and clean-flavored.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, celery, pepper, egg):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Tomatofits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, celery, pepper, egg. 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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