Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
Beef Stock
Ingredients
Directions
Make the stock
In a large pot, combine the beef and cold water.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer slowly for 5 hours.
Skim the surface of the stock 1 hour before it's done.
Make vegetable soup
For vegetable soup, add the turnips, carrots, celery, onion, cloves, and black pepper.
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.
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Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,173 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Turnip + carrottop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,002 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Turnip + celerytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,418 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,873 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef
- Provides the meaty flavor and gelatin that give the stock body as it simmers.
- White turnips
- Add a mild, slightly sweet vegetable flavor when used in the soup.
- Carrots
- Add natural sweetness and aromatic depth to the soup.
- Celery
- Adds savory, aromatic flavor to the soup.
The step that matters
Skim the surface 1 hour before it's done. Fat and fine impurities rise to the surface during simmering. Skimming them near the end keeps the stock clear and prevents a greasy taste.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, turnip, carrot, celery, onion, pepper):
- Parsleyfits better
- Thymefits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, turnip, carrot, celery, onion, 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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