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An Economical Soup

A hearty beef bone soup with barley, vegetables, and herbs simmered for hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

An Economical Soup

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Place the beef bones and tied herbs in a soup kettle.

  2. Add cold water and pearl barley, then boil slowly for 4 hours.

  3. Add onion, carrots, turnip, and tomatoes; simmer for 1 hour longer.

  4. Remove herbs and bones, then skim the soup carefully.

  5. Serve 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. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Parsley + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Parsley + carrottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

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

  5. Celery + carrottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef bones
Release gelatin and savory flavor into the broth during the long simmer.
Pearl barley
Thickens the broth slightly and adds a chewy texture as it cooks.
Carrots
Add sweetness and body to the soup as they soften.
Tomatoes
Add acidity and depth to the broth.
Onion
Adds aromatic sweetness that builds the soup's base flavor.

The step that matters

Skim the soup carefully. Fat and fine impurities rise to the surface during the long boil. Removing them before serving keeps the broth clear and prevents a greasy taste.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, parsley, celery, thyme, marjoram, barley, carrot):

  1. Leekfits better
  2. Parsnipfits better
  3. Turnipfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, parsley, celery, thyme, marjoram, barley, carrot. 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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