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Pot-au-feu

A French boiled beef soup with vegetables and herbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Turnip and leek match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,046 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Pot-au-feu

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. In a large stock pot, combine the beef and bone with enough water to cover.

  2. Add the chopped vegetables, onion with clove, and kitchen herbs.

  3. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for several hours until the meat is tender. Skim off any foam that rises to the surface during cooking.

Finish and serve

  1. Once cooked, strain the broth and serve as a clear soup, reserving the meat and vegetables.

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

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Turnip + parsniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together590 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Leek + parsniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together165 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

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

  5. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef
Provides rich meaty flavor and, as it simmers, tender meat that is served alongside the broth.
Carrots
Add natural sweetness and aroma to the broth as they cook.
Leeks
Contribute a mild, sweet onion-like flavor to the broth.
Onions
Add savory depth and aroma to the broth.
Turnips
Add mild sweetness and earthy flavor to the broth and vegetables.

The step that matters

Skimming the foam. Foam that rises during simmering contains coagulated proteins and impurities. Skimming it keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting, which is why the soup is served as a clear broth.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, carrot, turnip, leek, onion, celery, parsnip):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, carrot, turnip, leek, onion, celery, parsnip. 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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