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Ouka, or Russian Soup

A hearty soup made with veal knuckle, ham, old hens, fish, and vegetables, finished with wine and fish essence.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 18 ingredients
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Why it works: Chervil and tarragon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 824 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Ouka, or Russian Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the consomme

  1. Combine the knuckle of veal, raw ham, and old hens in a stockpot.

  2. Fill the pot with common broth.

  3. Bring the mixture to a boil.

  4. Skim the broth.

  5. Add the usual vegetables along with parsley roots or parsnips.

  6. Boil for five hours.

  7. Strain the consomme.

  8. Clarify the strained liquid.

  9. Set the clarified consomme aside in a soup pot.

Prepare and cook the fish

  1. Fillet the salmon, perch, eel, and mullets, cutting them into neat pieces.

  2. Season the fish with parsley, chervil, tarragon, boiled parsley roots, minionette pepper, nutmeg, and salt.

  3. Add ¼ bottle of Chablis or Sauterne.

  4. Boil the fish for five minutes.

  5. Moisten the fish with 1 quart of essence of fish.

  6. Let the mixture boil.

  7. Serve the soup hot.

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. Chervil + tarragontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together824 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Parsley + tarragontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Parsley + cherviltop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together774 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Carrot + cherviltop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together355 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

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

What each ingredient does

Knuckle of veal
Gives the broth body and rich, gelatinous flavour during the long simmer.
Old hens
Adds deep meaty flavour and richness to the consomme base.
Raw ham
Contributes savoury, salty depth to the stock.
Salmon
Provides the main fish body and delicate flavour to the soup.
Chablis or sauterne
Adds acidity and wine aroma that brightens the rich broth and fish.

The step that matters

Clarify the strained liquid. Clarifying removes cloudy particles so the consomme stays clear. Skipping or rushing it leaves a murky soup, and the broth must be cleared before the fish is added.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, ham, carrot, parsley, salmon, chervil, tarragon):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Leekfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, ham, carrot, parsley, salmon, chervil, tarragon. 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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