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Beef Boulli

A boiled beef dish with ox feet, onions, carrot, pepper, served with dry toast.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and carrot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,555 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Beef Boulli

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the beef

  1. Place the beef in a large pot with the water.

  2. Bring the pot to a boil.

  3. Skim off any foam that forms on the surface.

  4. Add the whole pepper, onions, and carrot.

  5. Simmer for 6 to 7 hours until the meat is tender.

  6. Remove a piece of the meat and set it aside.

Prepare the ox feet

  1. Thoroughly wash and clean the ox feet.

  2. Blanch the ox feet in cold water for 12 hours.

  3. Boil the ox feet in fresh water for about 5 hours.

Finish and serve

  1. Remove the fat from the strained soup.

  2. Bring the soup to a boil.

  3. Add the reserved piece of beef and the small pieces of gristle from the ox feet.

  4. Let everything boil together for a few minutes.

  5. Serve with dry toast cut into dice.

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. Pepper + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

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

  2. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

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

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

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

  4. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

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

  5. Beef + carrottop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,606 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

Beef leg or shin
Provides the meat and, as it simmers, the rich flavor and gelatin that give the broth body.
Ox feet
Their collagen and gristle release gelatin into the soup, adding body and a silky texture.
Red onions
Contribute sweetness and aromatic depth to the broth as they simmer.
Carrot
Adds subtle sweetness and vegetable flavor to the broth during simmering.
Dry toast
Adds a crisp, dry texture that contrasts with the soft, hot soup.

The step that matters

Skim off the foam after the boil. Foam carries impurities and coagulated proteins from the meat. Removing it early keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting, and it is easy to miss while the pot is busy.

Swap the onion

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

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Tomatofits better
  3. Potatofits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, 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.

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