Why it works: Carrot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,053 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Meat Jellies for Pies and Sauces
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a large pot, combine the beef, veal, and ham with the cold water.
Add the carrots, parsley, onion, bay leaves, mace, peppercorns, and salt.
Cook and clarify
Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 5 to 6 hours, ensuring it does not boil rapidly.
After cooking, strain the mixture through a fine sieve or cloth to clarify.
Once cooled, remove the fat from the surface.
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.
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Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,873 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
-
Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21,601 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Parsley + clovetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,768 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Clove + macetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,400 recipes
Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef shin
- Collagen from the connective tissue breaks down into gelatin, giving the broth its jelly-like body.
- Veal knuckle or neck
- Adds bones and connective tissue that release gelatin, helping the stock set firm when cooled.
- Lean ham
- Contributes savoury, cured flavour to the stock.
The step that matters
Keep the simmer gentle. A rapid boil makes the stock cloudy and emulsifies fat into it, so a gentle simmer over several hours keeps the liquid clear and easier to skim and set.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, veal, ham, carrot, parsley, onion, clove):
- Celeryfits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Thymefits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, veal, ham, carrot, parsley, onion, 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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