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A rich stock made from beef, veal, poultry bones, bacon, butter, onions, carrots, celery, spices, and water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Stock

Why it works: Clove and carrot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,873 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Stock

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the meat and bacon into pieces about 3 inches square and break the bones into small pieces.

  2. Rub the butter on the bottom of a large saucepan.

Make the stock

  1. Add ½ pint of water, the broken bones, meat, and all other ingredients.

  2. Cover the saucepan and place it on a sharp fire, stirring occasionally.

  3. When the bottom is covered with a pale jelly-like substance, add 4 quarts of cold water.

  4. Simmer gently for 5 hours, ensuring it does not boil quickly.

  5. When nearly cooked, add 1 tablespoon of salt to help the scum rise.

  6. Remove every particle of scum while cooking.

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. Clove + carrottop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

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

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

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

  4. Beef + carrottop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,606 recipes

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

  5. Beef + vealtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,784 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Shin of beef
Breaks down into gelatin and body, giving the stock a rich, full mouthfeel.
Knuckle of veal
Adds collagen-rich bones that release gelatin, giving the stock body and setting power.
Onions
Contribute sweetness and savory depth as they cook slowly into the liquid.
Carrots
Release natural sugars during slow simmering, rounding out the stock's sweetness.
Bacon or ham
Adds smoky, salty fat that flavours the stock as it renders.

The step that matters

Simmer gently and skim the scum. A rolling boil emulsifies fat and impurities into the liquid, making the stock cloudy and greasy. Gentle simmering and removing scum keep it clear.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, veal, meat, ham, butter, onion, carrot):

  1. Celeryfits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, veal, meat, ham, butter, onion, carrot. 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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