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Clear Soup

A clear beef broth made by simmering beef, onion, celery, herbs, and spices for hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Clear Soup

Why it works: Thyme and sage match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,485 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Clear Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. Cut the beef into small pieces and add it to the cold water in a large pot.

  2. Bring the mixture to a boil gradually, then skim off any foam.

  3. Reduce heat to maintain a very gentle boil for 8 hours.

  4. Strain the broth through a colander and let it cool.

Clarify and finish

  1. In the morning, skim off all the fat from the surface.

  2. Pour the broth into a soup kettle, leaving sediment behind.

  3. Add the onion, celery, parsley, thyme, sage, bay leaves, peppercorns, and cloves.

  4. Boil gently for 10 to 20 minutes, then strain through a clean cloth or napkin.

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. Thyme + sagetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,485 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,810 recipes

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

  4. Parsley + sagetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,445 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Thyme + clovetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,108 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef
Releases flavor and gelatin into the water during long, gentle simmering, giving the broth body.
Cold water
Extracts flavor from the beef slowly when it starts cold and is heated gradually.
Onion
Adds aromatic sweetness and savory depth to the broth.
Celery
Contributes aromatic vegetal flavor to the broth.

The step that matters

Keep the boil very gentle. A vigorous boil emulsifies fat and churns particles into the liquid, making the broth cloudy. A gentle simmer lets impurities rise for skimming and keeps the broth clear.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, celery, parsley, thyme, sage, clove):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Parsnipfits better
  3. Turnipfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, celery, parsley, thyme, sage, clove. 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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