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A clear broth made by simmering beef or veal, poultry bones, bacon, vegetables, and seasonings in water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Stock

Why it works: Turnip and carrot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,002 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Stock

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the meat and bacon into 3-inch pieces and break the bones into small pieces.

  2. Rub the butter on the bottom of a stewpan and add ½ pint of water, the broken bones, meat, and all other ingredients.

  3. Cover the stewpan and place it on a stove, stirring occasionally.

Simmer

  1. When a pale, jelly-like substance covers the bottom, add 4 quarts of cold water and simmer gently for 5 to 6 hours.

  2. Do not let it boil quickly.

  3. Near the end, add 1 tablespoon of salt to help the scum rise.

  4. Remove all scum while cooking.

Strain and store

  1. Strain through a fine sieve.

  2. When cool, remove all grease.

  3. Store in small jars in a cool place.

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. Turnip + carrottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,002 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Clove + carrottop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Onion + turniptop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Clove + turniptop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Shin of beef or knuckle of veal
Breaks down into gelatin, giving the stock body and a jelly-like texture as it simmers.
Bones and trimmings of poultry or fresh meat
Release collagen and minerals during long simmering, adding depth and body to the stock.
Lean bacon or ham
Adds savoury, smoky flavour to the broth.
Onions
Contribute sweetness and aroma as they cook slowly in the liquid.
Carrots
Add gentle sweetness and aromatic depth to the stock.

The step that matters

Keep the simmer gentle and skim the scum. Boiling vigorously emulsifies fat and fine particles into the liquid, leaving the stock cloudy and greasy. A gentle simmer with regular skimming keeps it clear.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, meat, ham, butter, onion, turnip, carrot):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, meat, ham, butter, onion, turnip, carrot. 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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