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Clear Gravy

A clear beef, veal, and ham stock made by simmering meat, vegetables, and spices, then skimming and straining.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Clear Gravy

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the pot

  1. Place the ham slices at the bottom of a large stew‑pan or stock‑pot.

  2. Add the lean beef, veal, and broken bones.

  3. Add the onions, turnips, carrots, celery, cloves, and mace.

Brown and simmer

  1. Cover the pot and heat over medium‑high until the meat sticks to the bottom.

  2. When a brown glaze forms, cover the meat with hot water.

  3. When it begins to boil, add ½ cup cold water and skim off the scum.

  4. Repeat adding ½ cup cold water and skimming until no more scum rises.

  5. Reduce heat and simmer gently for about 4 hours.

Strain and clarify

  1. Strain through a clean cloth into a stone pan without squeezing.

  2. Let it cool, then remove the fat from the top.

  3. If the broth is not clear enough, beat 2 egg whites and shells, add to the broth, and heat until boiling.

  4. Let it settle for 10 minutes, then strain again.

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. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Turnip + carrottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,002 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Turnip + celerytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,418 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Onion + turniptop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 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

Lean beef
Provides rich meaty flavor and gelatin from its connective tissue for body in the broth.
Veal
Adds gelatin and a delicate meaty flavor, giving the broth a fuller body.
Bones
Release gelatin and minerals during long simmering, adding body and depth to the broth.
Onions
Contribute sweetness and savory depth as they cook slowly into the broth.
Carrots
Add natural sweetness and aromatic depth to the broth.
Egg whites (in the method)
Bind fine particles as they cook, so they can be strained out for a clearer broth.

The step that matters

Skimming the scum while the water comes to a boil. Scum is coagulated protein and impurities that rise as the broth heats. Removing it early, and adding cold water to slow the boil, keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting.

Swap the turnip

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

  1. Leekfits about as well
  2. Potatofits about as well
  3. Turnipthe original
  4. Tomatofits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, beef, veal, meat, onion, carrot, celery. 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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