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Soup Stock

A clear beef-based stock made by simmering meat, bones, and aromatics in water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Soup Stock

Why it works: Clove and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Soup Stock

Ingredients

Directions

Make the stock

  1. In a large pot, combine the beef, cracked bones, remnants of poultry, and cold water.

  2. Cover and slowly bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer.

  3. Skim off any scum that rises to the surface until the meat is tender.

  4. When the meat is two-thirds cooked, add the onion, celery, cloves, mace, salt, and cayenne pepper.

Strain and store

  1. Strain the stock through a fine sieve.

  2. Once cooled, skim off any grease that forms on the surface.

  3. Store in a cool place for long-term use.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Celery + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

  4. Clove + macetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  5. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 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
Gives the stock its meaty flavor and body as it simmers slowly.
Cracked bones
Release gelatin and minerals into the water, adding richness and body to the stock.
Poultry remnants
Add savory meat flavor and extra body to the simmering liquid.
Onion
Contributes sweetness and savory depth as it cooks into the stock.

The step that matters

Skimming the scum while simmering. Scum and fat that rise during simmering can make the stock cloudy and greasy. Skimming early keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, meat, onion, celery, clove, pepper):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, meat, onion, celery, clove, pepper. 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.

More soup stock recipes

Clear 33White 28Brown 9Clarified 7 See all 71 →

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