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Broths, Gravies, and Soups

A savory broth made with bacon or bones, celery, onions, herbs, pepper, drippings, and bread.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Marjoram and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,609 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Broths, Gravies, and Soups

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the broth

  1. Combine 3 quarts of cold soft water with ½ pound of bacon, roast beef bones, or 4 anchovies in a large pot.

  2. Wash and cut 2 heads of celery and add them to the pot along with 2 peeled onions and a sprig of savory, marjoram, or lemon‑thyme.

  3. Simmer gently over low heat for about 3 hours, stirring every 15 minutes to prevent sticking.

  4. Optionally, fry sliced celery and onions in a little butter until lightly browned, then add to the soup.

Strain and finish

  1. Strain the soup through a coarse sieve, then through a fine sieve or tamis using a wooden spoon.

  2. Return the strained soup to a clean pot, add ½ teaspoon of ground black pepper, and boil for 10 minutes, skimming off any fat that rises.

  3. Serve with toasted bread cut into small pieces or fried bread cubes.

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. Marjoram + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,609 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Celery + marjoramtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together615 recipes

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

  3. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

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

  5. Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Bacon, roast beef bones, or anchovies
Provides savory, meaty depth to the broth as it simmers.
Celery
Adds aromatic, herbal flavour that builds the broth's base taste.
Onions
Contribute sweetness and aroma as they cook down into the liquid.
Bread
Toasted or fried pieces add crunch and absorb broth when served.

The step that matters

Simmering gently over low heat. A gentle simmer extracts flavour slowly while keeping the broth clear. Boiling hard emulsifies fat and clouds the liquid, and food can stick to the pot if it is not stirred.

Swap the onion

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

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Tomatofits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, celery, marjoram, pepper, bread. 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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