Name: Consomme Brunoise
Ingredients: 3 quarts ordinary stock; 1 egg white; ½ cup carrot, cut in small squares; ½ cup turnips, cut in small squares; ½ cup bright green peas; ½ cup lean raw beef, minced

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 ↓

Consomme Brunoise

Ingredients

3 quarts ordinary stock
1 egg white
½ cup carrot, cut in small squares
½ cup turnips, cut in small squares
½ cup bright green peas
½ cup lean raw beef, minced

Directions

Clarify the stock

Strain and skim the stock.
Add the raw beef and egg white to a cup of cold water.
Set the mixture to boil.
When the egg is well cooked, strain through a jelly bag.

Prepare the vegetables

Cook the vegetables in water. When done, wash the vegetables.

Finish the consommé

Add the vegetables and peas to the consommé.
Color the consommé with a spoonful of meat extract or liquid burnt sugar, if desired.

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.

Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together8,002 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Carrot + peastop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,994 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Turnip + peastop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,350 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Carrot + beeftop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,606 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Turnip + beeftop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,940 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).

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

What each ingredient does

Lean raw beef: Collects fine particles as it cooks, clearing the broth and adding meaty flavor.
Egg white: Coagulates as it heats, trapping cloudy particles so they can be strained out.
Carrot: Adds sweetness, color and a tender bite to the finished soup.
Turnips: Contributes mild sweetness and a soft texture to the finished soup.
Bright green peas: Add color, sweetness and a tender texture to the finished soup.

The step that matters

When the egg is well cooked, strain through a jelly bag.. The egg white and beef coagulate into a raft that catches cloudy particles as the liquid simmers. Straining before the raft fully sets lets cloudiness pass through, leaving the consommé murky instead of clear.