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White Stock

A clear white stock made from veal knuckle, lean beef, water, peppercorns, onion, celery, bay leaf, and sea salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

White Stock

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

  1. Combine veal, beef, and cold water in a large pot.

  2. Add peppercorns, onion, celery, bay leaf, and salt.

  3. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 4-6 hours, skimming off any foam that rises to the surface.

  4. Strain the stock through a fine sieve and discard solids.

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. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Veal + beeftop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,784 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  4. Beef + celerytop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,370 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Veal + oniontop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,841 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Knuckle of veal
Releases gelatin and collagen as it simmers, giving the stock body and a rich mouthfeel.
Lean beef
Adds deeper beefy flavor to the stock alongside the veal.
Cold water
Starts the extraction gently, letting flavor and gelatin dissolve as the water heats.

The step that matters

Skimming the foam. Foam rising during the simmer carries impurities that can make the stock cloudy and bitter. Skimming it off keeps the finished stock clear and clean-tasting.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, beef, onion):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Celerythe original
  3. Pepperfits about as well
  4. Thymefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, beef, onion. 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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