Why it works: Beef and mutton are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,373 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
A Broth
Ingredients
Directions
Place the beef, veal, and mutton shank in a covered pot.
Add enough water to cover the meat.
Stew by the side of the fire or in the oven until the meat is tender.
Add salt and herbs to taste.
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.
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Beef + muttontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,373 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Beef + vealtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,784 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Beef + meattop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,533 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Mutton + meattop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together936 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Veal + muttontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,394 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-nonanal (fatty, waxy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lean beef
- Provides the main meaty flavour and body to the broth as it stews.
- Veal
- Adds gelatin-rich connective tissue that gives the broth a fuller, silkier body.
- Mutton shank
- Contributes bone and connective tissue that release flavour and richness during slow stewing.
The step that matters
Stew until the meat is tender. Slow, gentle simmering is needed to break down connective tissue and collagen so the meat softens and the broth becomes rich. Rushing with a hard boil can toughen the meat and cloud the broth.
“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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