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Broth for Sauces

A beef broth made with water, onion, garlic, herbs, and seasonings, used for sauces.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Broth for Sauces

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a stewpan, combine the chopped beef and water.

  2. Add the onion, garlic, parsley, thyme, bay leaf, salt, and pepper.

  3. Set over moderate heat and skim carefully.

  4. Simmer until the meat is cooked through.

  5. Strain the broth and use as needed.

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. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  4. Clove + thymetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,108 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 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

Fresh beef
Provides the meat flavour and gelatin that give the broth body and savoury depth.
White onion
Adds sweetness and aromatic depth as it softens and releases its flavour into the liquid.
Garlic
Contributes a pungent aroma that mellows and rounds out during simmering.
Bay leaf
Adds a subtle herbal aroma to the broth.

The step that matters

Skim carefully as the broth heats. Proteins and fat rise to the surface as the liquid warms. Skimming them off keeps the broth clear and prevents a greasy, cloudy result.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, onion, garlic, parsley, thyme, pepper):

  1. Marjoramfits better
  2. Rosemaryfits better
  3. Oreganofits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, onion, garlic, parsley, thyme, 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.

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