Why it works: Meat and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 22% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,432 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Broth
Ingredients
Directions
Make the broth
Place the meat in a pot and cover with water.
Bring to a boil, skimming off any scum that rises.
Reduce heat and simmer gently for about 4 hours.
Strain the broth through a clean cloth without squeezing.
Clarify and finish
Let it cool, then remove the fat from the surface.
If the broth is not clear, beat the egg whites and shells in a bowl.
Add the mixture to the broth and bring to a boil, stirring with a whisk.
Remove from heat and let it settle for 10 minutes.
Strain again through a fine cloth into a basin.
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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Meat + eggtop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,432 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Meat (beef or veal)
- Releases flavor and gelatin into the water as it simmers, giving the broth body.
- Egg whites and shells
- Proteins bind to cloudy particles as they heat, which then collect in a raft that clarifies the broth.
The step that matters
Simmer gently and skim the scum. Boiling hard breaks up fats and proteins into the liquid, making the broth cloudy. A gentle simmer with skimming keeps it clear and clean-tasting.
“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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