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Rich Brown Stock

A hearty brown stock made with beef shin, veal knuckle, ham, trimmings, herbs, vegetables, spices, and simmered for hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 17 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,232 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Rich Brown Stock

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Combine the shin of beef, knuckle of veal, ham or bacon, and any poultry or game trimmings in a large pot.

  2. Add the bunch of herbs, mushrooms, tomatoes, mace, peppercorns, and cloves.

  3. Stir in the dripping, onions, carrots, turnips, celery, and salt.

  4. Pour in the cold water and bring to a boil.

Simmer and strain

  1. Reduce heat and simmer for several hours, skimming off any foam that forms.

  2. Strain the stock through a fine sieve and discard the solids.

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 + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  2. Parsley + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,768 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Mace + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  4. Mushroom + tomatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,719 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  5. Beef + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,448 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Shin of beef
Releases gelatin and deep meaty flavor into the stock during long simmering.
Knuckle of veal
Adds gelatin from bones and joints, giving the stock body and a rich mouthfeel.
Lean ham or bacon
Contributes savory, smoky depth to the stock's overall flavor.
Onions
Add sweetness and savory depth as they brown and soften in the stock.
Mushrooms
Add savory, umami flavor to the stock.
Tomatoes
Add acidity and a touch of sweetness that balances the rich meat flavors.

The step that matters

Skimming off the foam while simmering. Foam carries coagulated proteins and impurities that would cloud the stock and taint its flavor. Skimming as it forms keeps the stock clear and clean-tasting.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, veal, ham, parsley, mushroom, tomato, clove):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Marjoramfits better
  3. Celeryfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, veal, ham, parsley, mushroom, tomato, clove. 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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