Name: Broth Made in an Hour
Ingredients: 1 pound beef or veal, cut into small pieces; 1 carrot, chopped; 1 onion, chopped; 1 slice lean bacon; 1 teacup cold water (about ½ cup); 1 pint boiling water (about 4 cups); Salt to taste

Why it works: Carrot and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 21,601 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Broth Made in an Hour

Ingredients

Directions

In a saucepan, combine the beef or veal, carrot, onion, bacon, and cold water.
Simmer for 15 minutes.
Pour in the boiling water and add salt.
Boil for 45 minutes.
Strain the broth 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.

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 + oniontop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together21,601 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,092 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Beef + carrottop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,606 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

Beef or veal: Provides the main meaty flavour and dissolves gelatin into the liquid, giving body to the broth.
Bacon: Adds smoky, savoury fat that enriches the flavour of the broth.
Onion: Contributes savoury sweetness and aroma as it cooks into the liquid.
Carrot: Adds gentle sweetness and background flavour to the broth.