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Mock Turtle-soup

A soup made from calf's head, veal knuckle, beef shin, onions, and stock.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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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 ↓

Mock Turtle-soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the calf's head

  1. Scald the calf's head.

  2. Split it.

  3. Remove the brains, gristles, and nose bones.

  4. Blanch the head in several waters to remove slime and blood.

  5. Place the head in a stewpan.

  6. Cover with cold water.

  7. Bring to a boil, skimming continuously.

  8. Boil gently for 45 minutes.

  9. Remove and cut into small pieces.

  10. Peel the tongue.

  11. Cut it into 1-inch cubes.

Make the stock

  1. In a stock pot, combine the broken bones and trimmings with the knuckle of veal and shin of beef.

  2. Boil slowly for at least 4 hours, skimming as needed.

  3. Strain and reserve 1 quart of stock for gravy.

  4. Remove the fat from the stock.

Finish the soup

  1. Add the stock to a large stewpan.

  2. Skim the stock again.

  3. Add sliced and browned onions.

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. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

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

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

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

  3. Veal + oniontop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked 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

Calf's head
Provides gelatin-rich meat and body, giving the soup its rich, thick texture.
Knuckle of veal
Adds collagen from bone and connective tissue, enriching the stock with body and savoury depth.
Shin of beef
Contributes connective tissue that breaks down during long simmering, adding body and richness to the stock.
Onions
Add sweetness and aroma when sliced and browned before going into the soup.

The step that matters

Skimming the stock. Boiling the head and bones lets scum and fat rise to the surface. Removing it regularly keeps the stock clear and prevents off-flavours and greasiness.

Swap the onion

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

  1. Onionthe original
  2. Tomatofits about as well
  3. Carrotfits less well
  4. Potatofits less 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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