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Pot-au-feu

A traditional French beef broth simmered with root vegetables and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 16 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. Place the beef, water, salt, and spices in a large pot.

  2. Bring gently to a boil, skimming the surface well.

  3. Reduce heat to maintain a gentle boil for 2 hours.

  4. Add the chopped vegetables and continue boiling for 5 to 6 hours.

  5. Do not add water during cooking for best results.

Clarify and serve

  1. For a clear broth, strain through a fine sieve and refrigerate overnight.

  2. Remove the fat the next day and serve the broth over small squares of dry bread.

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. Parsnip + leektop 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 + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

What each ingredient does

Lean beef
Provides the meat and flavour that give the broth its body.
Carrots
Add sweetness and aroma to the broth as they cook.
Leeks
Add mild onion-like sweetness and aroma to the broth.
Turnips
Add mild sweetness and body to the broth as they cook.
Stewed tomatoes
Add acidity and depth to the broth.

The step that matters

Skimming the surface while the broth comes to a boil. Foam and fat that rise early cloud the broth and can taste greasy. Skimming well at the start keeps the broth clearer and cleaner-tasting.

Swap the clove

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

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

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