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Soup

Macakoni Soup

A hearty soup made from bones, turnip, carrots, leeks, onions, mace, peppercorns, herbs, and macaroni.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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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 ↓

Macakoni Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the stock

  1. Cut meat from the bones and break them into pieces.

  2. Place bones in a saucepan with enough cold water to cover them and 1 quart more.

  3. Bring the saucepan to a boil. Once boiling, add 1 tablespoon of salt to help the scum rise.

  4. Skim the soup well, then add the prepared vegetables, mace, and peppercorns.

Prepare the vegetables

  1. Peel the turnip and cut it into quarters.

  2. Wash, scrape, and quarter the carrots; wash and finely shred the leeks.

  3. Peel the onions and stick 2 cloves into each.

Simmer and finish

  1. Move the saucepan to the side of the fire and let it simmer gently for 2.5 hours.

  2. Raise the lid slightly to let out steam.

  3. If thickening the soup, add ¼ pound of macaroni.

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

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Turnip + leektop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,046 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Turnip + carrottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,002 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Carrot + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together687 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Leek + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together360 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

Bones
Release gelatin and flavour into the water, giving the soup body and richness.
Macaroni
Adds starch as it cooks, thickening the soup and giving it substance.
Leeks
Contribute a mild onion-like sweetness and aroma to the broth.
Onions
Add sweetness and savoury depth as they soften in the broth.
Carrots
Add natural sweetness and colour to the soup.

The step that matters

Skimming the scum. Foam from proteins and impurities rises as the stock heats. Skimming it well keeps the soup clear and clean-tasting, so it should be removed before the vegetables go in.

Swap the mace

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

  1. Winter savoryfits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Allspicefits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against turnip, carrot, leek, onion, clove, marjoram, thyme. 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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