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Hare Soup

A hearty soup made with hare, turnips, onions, cloves, allspice, marjoram, thyme, flour, ketchup, and wine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Hare Soup

Why it works: Marjoram and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Hare Soup

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

  1. In a large pot, combine 5 quarts of water with 2 hares, 2 chopped turnips, 2 chopped onions, 6 cloves, 12 allspice berries, 1 teaspoon of sweet marjoram, and 1 teaspoon of thyme.

  2. Fry nearly half the hare until browned, then simmer the mixture for 5 to 6 hours.

  3. Strain the broth and add ½ pint of flour, ⅓ cup of tomato ketchup, ⅓ cup of mushroom ketchup, and 1 cup of wine.

  4. Boil very gently, and add mutton or beef bones if desired.

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. Marjoram + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Allspice + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,077 recipes

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

  4. Allspice + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together342 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Clove + marjoramtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,075 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

Hares
Supply the meat that gives the soup its rich, gamey flavour as it simmers.
Turnips
Add sweetness and body to the broth as they soften during simmering.
Onions
Build savoury depth in the broth as they cook down over the long simmer.
Flour
Thickens the strained broth so it becomes a fuller, more body-rich soup.
Wine
Adds acidity and aroma that brighten the rich broth.

The step that matters

Browning the hare before simmering. Frying the meat until browned triggers the Maillard reaction, which builds deeper, roasted flavour that carries into the broth during the long simmer. Pale meat yields a flatter-tasting soup.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (turnip, onion, clove, allspice, marjoram, thyme, flour):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against turnip, onion, clove, allspice, marjoram, thyme, flour. 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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