Skip to main content
Main

Raviolis a LA Napolitaine

A savory broth for ravioli made with ham, beef, veal, hen or partridges, celery, leeks, carrots, herbs and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Celery and carrot 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 ↓

Raviolis a LA Napolitaine

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the pot

  1. Butter the bottom of a small stockpot.

  2. Add the sliced ham, beef, veal, and hen or partridges.

Build the broth

  1. Add the chopped celery, leeks, and carrots.

  2. Tie thyme, winter savory, and parsley into a faggot and add to the pot.

  3. Add cloves, mace, and peppercorns.

  4. Moisten with a large ladleful of broth.

  5. Cook until the flavors meld and the meat is tender.

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. Celery + carrottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Leek + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together360 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  3. Leek + carrottop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,310 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Carrot + thymetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Celery + thymetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,193 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Gravy beef
Provides rich meat flavor and gelatin that gives the finished broth body.
Veal knuckle
Adds gelatin and depth, giving the broth a fuller, silkier texture.
Hen or partridges
Contribute meaty flavor and richness to the stock as they cook slowly.
Raw ham
Adds salty, savory flavor that seasons the broth as it cooks.
Celery, leeks, and carrots
Form the aromatic base, adding sweetness and vegetable flavor to the stock.
Butter
Coats the pot bottom so the ingredients start cooking gently without sticking.

The step that matters

Moisten with broth and cook slowly. Cooking gently at a low simmer keeps the broth clear and lets collagen in the meat and bones break down into gelatin. Boiling hard makes the broth cloudy and greasy.

Swap the thyme

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, ham, beef, veal, celery, leek, carrot):

  1. Parsleyfits about as well
  2. Thymethe original
  3. Marjoramfits about as well
  4. Tarragonfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, ham, beef, veal, celery, leek, carrot. 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.

You might also like

Beef, Mutton, or Veal BrothBeef, Mutton, or Veal Broth6 recipesRoast BeefRoast Beef211 recipesBeef LoafBeef Loaf175 recipesCarrot SoupCarrot Soup134 recipes