Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
Beef Stock
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Roast the bones
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
Roast the beef bones in the oven for 30 minutes until browned.
Simmer the stock
In a large pot, combine the roasted bones, onion, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaf, and water.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 4-6 hours.
Skim off any foam that rises to the surface.
Season with coarse sea salt and black peppercorns to taste.
Strain the stock through a fine sieve and discard solids.
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.
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Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,173 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together29,058 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
-
Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,873 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21,601 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Celery + clovetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together4,668 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef bones
- Browning in the oven builds deeper, roasted flavour and gives body to the stock.
- Onion
- Adds sweetness and savoury depth as it cooks slowly in the liquid.
- Carrots
- Contribute natural sweetness and body to the simmering liquid.
- Celery
- Adds aromatic, savoury flavour that rounds out the stock.
- Garlic
- Adds aroma and savoury depth to the simmering liquid.
The step that matters
Skimming the foam. Foam rising during the boil carries impurities and proteins that can make the stock cloudy and taste muddy, so skimming it keeps the broth clear and clean-flavoured.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, onion, carrot, celery, garlic):
- Cuminfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Thymefits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, onion, carrot, celery, garlic. 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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