Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Portable Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the stock
Boil the veal, shins of beef, and beef in enough water to cover them.
Remove the marrow from the bones and add your chosen spices and onions.
Cook until the meat is tender and falls apart, then strain the mixture.
Place the strained soup in a cold area to cool, then remove the fat layer.
Reduce the soup
Transfer the soup to a double-bottomed saucepan and heat on a medium flame.
Boil uncovered for 8 hours, stirring constantly.
After boiling, let the soup cool for a day.
Pour the soup into a round dish and place it in a pot of boiling water on the stove.
Stir occasionally until the soup thickens to a ropy consistency.
Set and store
Pour the thickened soup into small molds and let cool to form cakes.
Store the cakes in tin canisters.
To use, melt the cakes in boiling water, adding herbs or other flavors if desired.
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 + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Veal + beeftop 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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Meat + oniontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,364 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Veal + oniontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,841 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
- Veal knuckles
- Adds gelatin from bones and connective tissue, giving the soup body and a jelly-like set.
- Beef shins
- Release collagen during long simmering, which thickens the stock and adds rich savoury flavour.
- Beef
- Provides meat flavour and collagen that, once reduced, turns the stock into a firm, gel-like cake.
- Onions
- Contribute sweetness and aromatic depth as they cook down into the stock.
The step that matters
Long, constant boiling and stirring to reduce the soup to a ropy consistency. Gelatin and collagen only set into a thick, gel-like body when enough water evaporates. Stirring prevents scorching on the base and keeps the concentration even.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, beef, meat):
- Onionthe original
- Potatofits about as well
- Tomatofits about as well
- Carrotfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against veal, beef, meat. 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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