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A soup made from calf head, ham, and shallots, simmered with veal and aromatics.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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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 ↓

Modern Cookery

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. Combine veal, carrots, onion, celery, herbs, mace, peppercorns, and salt in a pot.

  2. Cover with water and simmer until meat is tender.

  3. Strain the broth and pour it over the veal in a clean pot.

  4. Simmer gently until the meat falls from the bones.

  5. Return the bones to the pot to enrich the stock.

  6. Strain the soup through a fine sieve and let it cool.

  7. Skim off the fat.

Prepare the head

  1. Remove the brains from the calf's head and bone it.

  2. Roll the head with the tongue inside and secure it with tape.

Assemble and finish

  1. Pour the soup over the head and bring to a gentle boil.

  2. Simmer for 1 to 1.25 hours, skimming regularly.

  3. Transfer the head to a deep pan or tureen and add the soup.

  4. Let it cool to prevent dark edges.

  5. Cut the ham into quarter‑inch slices, then dice.

  6. Peel and slice the shallots.

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. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Carrot + shallottop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together803 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Onion + shallottop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,431 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 knuckle or neck
Breaks down into gelatin as it simmers, giving the broth body and a rich texture.
Calf's head
Its gelatinous skin and meat set the soup's main body and texture as it cooks.
Tongue
Cooks into tender meat that adds richness and a distinct texture to the rolled head.
Lean ham
Adds salty, savory flavor to the soup.
Shallots
Add a mild, sweet aromatic flavor to the finished dish.

The step that matters

Simmer the head gently. A gentle simmer keeps the meat tender and the broth clear. A hard boil toughens proteins and clouds the liquid, and fat emulsified into the stock is harder to skim off.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, carrot, onion, celery, ham, shallot):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Capersfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, carrot, onion, celery, ham, shallot. 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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