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Ox-cheek Soup

A hearty soup made with ox cheek, vegetables, herbs, and a roux thickener.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Ox-cheek Soup

Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Ox-cheek Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the ox-cheek

  1. Soak the ox-cheek in salt and warm water for 5 to 6 hours, changing the water 2 or 3 times.

  2. Wash the ox-cheek well.

  3. Break the bones into small pieces.

Make the soup

  1. Melt the butter in a large pot.

  2. Add the sliced vegetables and fry until browned.

  3. Add the bones, herbs, seasonings, meat, and water to the pot.

  4. Bring the mixture to a boil slowly, skim off any foam, and cover.

  5. Simmer gently for 3 hours or until the cheek is tender.

  6. Strain the soup and return the strained soup to the pot.

  7. Bring it back to a boil.

Thicken and serve

  1. Mix the flour with a little cold water or stock until smooth, then pour the mixture into the soup, stirring continuously.

  2. Simmer for 5 to 6 minutes.

  3. Cut the smaller pieces of meat into dice and add the diced meat to the soup.

  4. Add diced cooked celery and carrot.

  5. Season to taste and serve.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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 + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Basil + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together688 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  3. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Parsley + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 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

Ox-cheek
Supplies rich meat and gelatin that become tender during long simmering, giving body to the soup.
Butter
Carries the frying of the vegetables and adds richness and browning flavour.
Flour
Thickens the soup as its starch swells in hot liquid, giving it a smoother body.
Onions
Browning during frying builds sweet, savoury depth that flavours the broth.
Bones (in the method)
Release gelatin and flavour into the water during simmering, adding body to the broth.

The step that matters

Mix the flour with cold liquid until smooth before adding it. Flour added directly to hot liquid clumps, because its starch surface gelatinises before it can disperse. Mixing it first with cold liquid lets the starch separate, giving a smooth, evenly thickened soup.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, turnip, celery, parsley, thyme, basil, marjoram):

  1. Parsnipfits better
  2. Leekfits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, turnip, celery, parsley, thyme, basil, marjoram. 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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