Why it works: Carrot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,053 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Beef Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the broth
Combine beef shin and cold water in a large pot and bring to a strong boil.
Skim off any scum that rises to the surface.
Scrape and wash the carrots, then slice them and add them to the pot.
Stick the cloves into one of the onions and add both onions to the pot.
Add the salt, parsley, and turnip. If using, add the celery tops or tie the celery seed in a piece of muslin and add it.
Once boiling, reduce heat and let simmer for 6 hours.
Strain the soup to remove solids.
Color and finish
Place the onions in the oven until blackened, then add them back to the soup for color.
For best results, make the soup a day in advance to allow fat to solidify and be removed.
When ready to serve, reheat the soup and boil rice or vermicelli in it for a few minutes.
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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Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,173 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,002 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Parsley + celerytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,810 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Turnip + celerytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,418 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef shin
- Releases flavour and gelatin into the broth during long simmering, giving body to the soup.
- Onions
- Blackened onions add a deeper golden-brown colour and savoury aroma to the broth.
- Carrots
- Add natural sweetness and body to the broth as they cook.
- Turnip
- Adds a mild, slightly sweet vegetable flavour to the broth.
The step that matters
Skimming the scum after the boil. Foam and scum that rise early contain coagulated proteins and impurities; removing them keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting rather than cloudy or bitter.
Swap the celery
The recipe marks celery as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, carrot, onion, clove, parsley, turnip):
- Thymefits about as well
- Marjoramfits about as well
- Celerythe original
- Cuminfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, carrot, onion, clove, parsley, turnip. 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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