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Vermicelli Soup

A hearty veal and beef broth with vermicelli, onions, herbs, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Vermicelli Soup

Why it works: Thyme and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Vermicelli Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare and simmer the broth

  1. Crack the bones into splinters and cut the meat into strips.

  2. Slice the onions and chop the herbs.

  3. In a large pot, combine the meat, bones, onions, herbs, and water.

  4. Cook slowly for 5 hours.

  5. Strain the soup, pressing the meat and solids in the colander.

  6. You should have about 4 quarts of soup; set aside half for later.

  7. Return the remaining soup to the pot, season with salt and pepper, and skim off any fat.

Add the vermicelli and serve

  1. Break the vermicelli into small pieces and boil in salted water for 3 minutes.

  2. Strain the vermicelli and stir it into the soup with butter and pepper.

  3. Simmer gently for 5 minutes before serving.

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. Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

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

  5. Onion + thymetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,171 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

Knuckle of veal
Releases gelatin and flavour into the broth, giving it body over the long simmer.
Lean beef
Contributes savoury meaty flavour to the broth as it cooks slowly.
Vermicelli
Thin pasta that adds substance and starch to the finished soup.
Onions
Build aromatic sweetness and depth in the broth as they cook.

The step that matters

Skimming the fat after straining. Fat left in the broth floats on top and makes the soup greasy. Removing it while the broth is hot and clear gives a cleaner, lighter result.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, beef, ham, thyme, parsley, pepper):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Leekfits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, beef, ham, thyme, parsley, pepper. 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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