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Vermicelli Soup

A hearty soup of vermicelli, veal, mutton, ham, morels, anchovy, and vegetables simmered in broth.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 19 ingredients
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Vermicelli Soup

Why it works: Carrot and parsnip match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,097 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓

Vermicelli Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the broth

  1. Blanch the vermicelli in boiling water, then strain it.

  2. Add the blanched vermicelli to boiling broth to prevent sticking.

  3. Melt the butter in a pan.

  4. Add the veal, mutton, and ham to the pan.

  5. Add mace, carrots, parsnips, onions, celery, sweet herbs, morels, and anchovy to the pan.

  6. Cover the pan.

  7. Cook over low heat until the meat releases its juices.

  8. Transfer the mixture to an earthen pan.

  9. Let the meat brown.

  10. Add 4 quarts of water.

  11. Simmer until reduced to 3 pints.

  12. Strain the broth.

Finish the soup

  1. Return the broth to the heat.

  2. Add 10 ounces of vermicelli, chopped celery, cayenne pepper, and salt.

  3. Simmer for about 6 minutes.

  4. Place a French roll in a tureen.

  5. Pour the soup over the roll.

  6. Sprinkle with additional vermicelli before serving.

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. Carrot + parsniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,097 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  2. Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

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

  3. Parsnip + oniontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,054 recipes

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

  4. Mutton + hamtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together430 recipes

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

  5. Veal + muttontop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,394 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-nonanal (fatty, waxy).

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

What each ingredient does

Veal knuckle
Releases gelatin and savoury flavour into the broth as it simmers.
Butter
Carries the meat and vegetables in the pan and adds richness to the base.
Morels
Add an earthy, aromatic flavour to the broth.
Vermicelli
Thin pasta that softens in the hot broth and gives the soup body.
Carrots
Add sweetness and depth to the broth as they cook down.
French roll
Soaks up broth in the tureen, giving the dish substance.

The step that matters

Blanching and adding the vermicelli to boiling broth. Pasta left to sit in liquid keeps absorbing it and turns soft and clumped. Blanching first and adding it to boiling broth helps it hold its shape and stops it sticking together.

Swap the mace

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, veal, mutton, ham, carrot, parsnip, onion. 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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