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Pot Au Feu

A French stew of beef and root vegetables simmered in a clear broth.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 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. Combine cold water and beef in a large pot.

  2. Add any leftover poultry or cooked meat.

  3. Bring to a boil.

  4. Reduce heat to simmer gently.

  5. Skim off any scum that rises to the surface.

Simmer and serve

  1. Add carrots, turnips, leeks, celery, and cloves.

  2. Simmer until meat and vegetables are tender.

  3. Remove meat and vegetables.

  4. Serve clear soup.

  5. Serve meat and vegetables plain or with sauce.

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. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  3. Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,002 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Turnip + celerytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,418 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Carrot + leektop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,310 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

Rump beef
Slow simmering turns its connective tissue tender while flavouring the broth.
Cold water
Starting in cold water lets the beef release flavour gradually into the broth.
Carrots
Add sweetness and aroma to the broth as they cook.
Leeks or small onions
Contribute savoury, aromatic flavour to the broth.
Celery
Adds aromatic, herbal flavour to the broth.
Turnips
Add mild sweetness and body to the broth as they soften.

The step that matters

Skim off the scum. Scum is coagulated protein and impurities that rise as the broth heats. Removing it keeps the soup clear and free of off flavours.

Swap the clove

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

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

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