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Blanc

A rich broth or gravy made from beef suet, bacon, butter, herbs, and lemon pulp.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and basil match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,768 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Blanc

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Mince the beef suet and fat bacon.

Make the broth

  1. In a stew pan, cook the minced fats over low heat.

  2. Add the butter and the bundle of herbs and spices.

  3. Sweat the mixture over low heat without browning.

  4. Add enough water to cover the ingredients.

  5. When done, keep the broth for use.

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. Thyme + basiltop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,768 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Thyme + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,973 recipes

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

  3. Basil + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,823 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  4. Thyme + clovetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,108 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Pepper + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef suet
Supplies fat that gives the broth its rich, savoury body.
Fat bacon
Adds fat and savoury flavour as it renders into the broth.
Fresh butter
Adds richness and a smooth, rounded mouthfeel to the fat base.
Lemon pulp
Adds acidity that brightens the otherwise heavy fats.

The step that matters

Sweat the mixture over low heat without browning. Browning the fats would give a darker colour and a roasted, bitter flavour, so gentle low heat keeps the broth pale and clean-tasting while the fats soften and release their flavour.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, butter, thyme, basil, clove, pepper, lemon):

  1. Marjoramfits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Rosemaryfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, butter, thyme, basil, clove, pepper, lemon. 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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