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Macaroni, or Vermicelli Soup

A vegetable broth with macaroni or vermicelli and optional meat.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Marjoram and thyme 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 ↓

Macaroni, or Vermicelli Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. Place the soup bones in enough water to cover them.

  2. Bring the soup to a boil and skim off any foam.

  3. Add the vegetables.

  4. Simmer for 3 to 4 hours.

  5. Strain the soup through a colander.

  6. Return the strained soup to the saucepan to reheat.

Serve

  1. Boil the macaroni until it is tender.

  2. Place the cooked macaroni in a soup tureen.

  3. Pour the soup over the macaroni just before serving.

  4. If using vermicelli, soak it briefly instead of boiling.

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. Marjoram + thymetop 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. Marjoram + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

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

  5. Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,002 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Carrots
Add sweetness and body to the broth as they soften during simmering.
Onions
Build savory depth and aroma in the broth during long simmering.
Turnips
Contribute mild sweetness and soft texture to the broth.
Macaroni
Adds starchy body and bite that soaks up the broth when served.

The step that matters

Skim off any foam. Foam rises from proteins and impurities released while the broth comes to a boil. Removing it early keeps the broth clear and prevents off flavours from settling into the soup during the long simmer.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, turnip, clove, pepper, marjoram, parsley, thyme):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, turnip, clove, pepper, marjoram, parsley, thyme. 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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