Why it works: Carrot and turnip 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 ↓
Vegetable Broth
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Slice the potatoes, carrot, turnip, and onion.
Make the broth
Boil the sliced vegetables in 1 quart of water for 1 hour.
Add more water as needed to maintain the original quantity.
Season with coarse sea salt and pot-herbs.
For improved flavor, add a small quantity of mushroom catsup if desired.
Strain the broth before serving.
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 + turniptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,002 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,023 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Potato + carrottop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,107 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Turnip + oniontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,585 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Potatoes
- Break down during simmering to add body and starch to the broth.
- Carrot
- Releases natural sweetness into the broth as it cooks.
- Turnip
- Adds a mild, slightly peppery depth to the broth's flavor.
- Onion
- Contributes savory aroma and sweetness as it softens in the water.
Swap the turnip
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, carrot, onion, mushroom):
- Chivefits about as well
- Leekfits about as well
- Spinachfits about as well
- Turnipthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against potato, carrot, onion, mushroom. 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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