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A Blanc

A Blanc is a stew of bacon, beef suet, butter, lemon, spices, carrots, onions, and water cooked until the fat melts.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 17,091 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

  1. Combine the grated bacon, chopped beef suet, butter, lemon juice, bay leaves, cloves, diced carrots, diced onions, and water in a stewpan.

  2. Simmer gently, stirring often, until the fat is melted and the water evaporates.

  3. Add more liquid than needed for the dish to be cooked in the blanc.

  4. Boil softly until all ingredients release their flavors.

  5. Skim off any impurities, add salt if needed, and strain for use.

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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Beef + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together17,091 recipes

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

  2. Clove + carrottop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together4,916 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Carrot + oniontop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together21,599 recipes

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

  4. Beef + carrottop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together6,604 recipes

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

  5. Lemon + carrottop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together3,350 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Fat bacon
Melts into the stock, adding rich fat and savory flavor to the liquid.
Beef suet
Adds fat that enriches the body and mouthfeel of the finished liquid.
Butter
Contributes fat and a smooth, rich richness to the blanc.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the rich fats.
Onions
Release sweetness and aromatic flavor as they simmer slowly.

The step that matters

Simmer gently, stirring often. Gentle heat melts the fats without scorching the solids on the pan bottom. Stirring keeps the diced vegetables and fats from sticking and burning, which would give a bitter, off flavor to the strained liquid.

Flavor stand-ins for the lemon

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

  1. Orangebetter flavor fit
  2. Grapebetter flavor fit
  3. Applebetter flavor fit
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, butter, clove, carrot, onion. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“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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