Why it works: Pepper and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
A Clear Beef Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the beef shank into pieces and set aside until the next day.
Crush the bones.
Make the broth
Place the crushed bones in a kettle with 5 quarts of water and a little salt.
Cover and simmer for a full day, adding more water if necessary.
Strain the broth through a colander.
The next morning, remove the grease from the top.
Return the soup to the kettle.
Add the beef and let it simmer for 5 to 6 hours.
Strain again through a colander.
On the third morning, remove the grease again.
Finish and serve
Just before serving, let the soup begin to boil.
Strain through a piece of muslin and return to the cleaned kettle.
Season with salt and pepper.
Add ½ cup sherry or Worcestershire sauce.
Add a little celery.
If desired, add parboiled vermicelli 5 minutes before serving.
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.
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Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Beef + meattop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,533 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Beef + celerytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,370 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sherry + celerytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef shank
- Provides meat flavor and gelatin-rich body as it simmers slowly in the broth.
- Beef bones
- Release collagen and minerals during long simmering, giving the broth body and savory depth.
- Water
- Extracts flavor from the meat and bones as the base of the broth.
- Sherry or worcestershire sauce
- Adds acidity and savory aroma to the finished broth.
The step that matters
Removing the grease each morning. Fat that is not skimmed off after chilling and straining will leave the broth greasy and cloudy. Skimming when cold lifts the fat off as a solid layer, leaving a clearer, cleaner-tasting soup.
Swap the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, meat, pepper, sherry):
- Thymefits better
- Celerythe original
- Marjoramfits about as well
- Rosemaryfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, meat, pepper, sherry. 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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