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A Partridge Soup

A soup made with a veal knuckle, partridges stuffed with forcemeat, vegetables, and optional lean beef.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Veal and beef are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,784 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓

A Partridge Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. Stew the knuckle of veal until it becomes a strong soup.

  2. If desired, add lean beef for a stronger soup.

  3. Add assorted vegetables to enhance flavor.

Cook the partridges

  1. Stuff the partridges with forcemeat and add them to the soup.

  2. Cook until the partridges are tender but not falling apart.

Serve

  1. Strain the soup before serving, leaving only the partridges.

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. Veal + beeftop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,784 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  2. Celery + beeftop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,370 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Veal + celerytop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,336 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Knuckle of veal
Gives the broth its body and strong savoury flavour as it stews.
Partridges
Provide the main meat, which becomes tender as the soup simmers.
Assorted vegetables
Add aromatic flavour to the broth, especially celery.

The step that matters

Cook until the partridges are tender but not falling apart. Small birds overcook quickly, and prolonged simmering breaks down their delicate meat and stuffing. Gentle heat keeps the flesh moist and intact while it becomes tender.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, beef):

  1. Pepperfits better
  2. Celerythe original
  3. Tarragonfits about as well
  4. Sagefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, beef. 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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