Why it works: Beef and veal are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,784 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓
Soup Stock
Ingredients
Directions
Make the stock
In a large pot, combine the beef, veal knuckle, bacon or ham, butter, and cold water.
Cook slowly for 6 hours, removing any scum that rises to the surface.
Strain and degrease
After cooking, strain the stock and let it cool overnight.
Once cooled, remove all grease from the surface.
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.
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Beef + vealtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,784 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Beef + hamtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,729 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Veal + hamtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,264 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Ham + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,475 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Beef + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,847 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef shin
- Releases gelatin and flavour into the water as it cooks slowly, giving body to the stock.
- Veal knuckle
- Bones add gelatin and minerals that give the stock body and a rich mouthfeel.
- Bacon or ham
- Adds savoury, smoky depth to the broth.
- Butter
- Adds fat that carries flavour and contributes to a rounder mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Cook slowly and skim the scum. Keeping the liquid at a gentle simmer lets collagen and flavour extract gradually while staying clear. A hard boil emulsifies fat and impurities into the stock, making it cloudy and greasy, so the scum must be removed as it rises.
“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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