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Mock-turtle, Ok Calf's Head Soup

Soup made from calf's head, pig's feet, and seasonings, finished with meatballs of egg yolk and brains.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 16 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 ↓

Mock-turtle, Ok Calf's Head Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the head and feet

  1. Place the cleaned calf's head and pig's feet in a large pot and cover with 1 gallon of water.

  2. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 hours until the flesh easily separates from the bones.

  3. Remove the calf's head and set aside.

  4. Continue boiling the pig's feet.

  5. Cut enough meat from the head to fill a teacup and set aside to cool.

  6. Remove the brains and set aside.

  7. Chop the remaining meat and tongue finely.

  8. Season the chopped meat with salt, pepper, marjoram, thyme, cloves, mace, allspice, and nutmeg.

  9. Return the seasoned meat to the pot.

  10. Once the pig's feet are tender, remove them, leaving the gelatinous meat in the pot.

  11. Cover and simmer for 2 more hours.

Chill and finish

  1. Let the soup cool overnight.

  2. An hour before serving, reheat the stock.

  3. Strain the stock carefully.

  4. Cut the reserved meat into small squares and add to the soup.

Make the egg balls and serve

  1. Mash the egg yolks with the brains, butter, and salt until smooth.

  2. Mix in the beaten eggs.

  3. Dust your hands with flour and form the mixture into balls the size of a pigeon's egg.

  4. Add the balls to the soup 5 minutes before serving.

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. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Allspice + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,331 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Clove + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Thyme + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,077 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Calf's head
Supplies the gelatinous meat and body that give the soup its rich texture.
Pig's feet
Release gelatin into the stock, giving it body and a silky mouthfeel.
Eggs
Bind the egg yolk and brain mixture so it holds its shape in balls.
Egg yolks
Add richness and a smooth, creamy texture to the forcemeat balls.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a smooth texture in the forcemeat balls.
Ground cloves
Add warm, aromatic spice flavour to the seasoned meat.

The step that matters

Strain the stock carefully. Straining removes bone fragments and loose particles so the stock stays clear and smooth. Handling the stock gently after the long cooling keeps the gelatin from being broken up into cloudy, gritty bits.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, marjoram, thyme, clove, allspice, nutmeg, egg):

  1. Winter savoryfits better
  2. Cinnamonfits better
  3. Sagefits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, marjoram, thyme, clove, allspice, nutmeg, egg. 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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