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Book of Modern Cookery

A stew of calf's head with ham, shallots, cloves, mace, peppercorns, thyme, parsley, lemon thyme, and winter savory.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Book of Modern Cookery

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the head

  1. Stew the calf's head gently to preserve stock.

  2. Remove the brains and bone the head, returning the bones for stock.

  3. Strain the soup through a fine sieve into a clean pan.

  4. Once cooled, remove the fat from the soup.

  5. Roll the head with the tongue inside, securing it with tape or twine.

Simmer

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

  2. Skim the surface and simmer for 1 to 1.25 hours.

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

  4. Let it cool to prevent dark edges.

Make the flavouring

  1. Dice the ham after removing fat and rind.

  2. Peel and slice the shallots or onion.

  3. In a large saucepan, melt the butter and add the ham and shallots or onion.

  4. Add cloves, mace, peppercorns, thyme, parsley, lemon thyme, and winter savory.

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 + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

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

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

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

  4. Shallot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,737 recipes

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

  5. Shallot + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,476 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Calf's head
Skin and bones release gelatin, giving the stew a body that sets as it cools.
Butter
Carries fat-soluble aroma and adds richness and a silky mouthfeel.
Ham
Adds savoury, salty depth that seasons the stew from within.
Shallots or onion
Softens in butter, adding sweetness and a mellow aromatic base.
Cloves
Contribute warm, pungent aroma to the stock.

The step that matters

Skim, then keep the simmer gentle. Skimming removes fat and scum, and a gentle simmer keeps the stock clear. A rolling boil would cloud the liquid and could break up the head.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, ham, shallot, clove, thyme, parsley, lemon):

  1. Marjoramfits better
  2. Winter savoryfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, ham, shallot, clove, thyme, parsley, 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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