Why it works: Anchovy and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,057 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Hare Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the stock
In a large pot, combine the hare, beef, mutton bones, bacon or ham, onion, and sweet herbs.
Pour in the boiling water.
Cover the pot with bladder and paper.
Place the pot in a kettle of water and simmer until the hare is tender.
Finish and serve
Strain the liquid and bring it to a boil with the anchovy, soy sauce, cayenne, and salt.
Serve the soup with fried forcemeat balls in the tureen.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Anchovy + saucetop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Beef + muttontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,373 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 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
- Hare
- Gives the soup its main meat flavour and body as it simmers down into the broth.
- Beef
- Adds savoury depth and richness to the stock through slow simmering.
- Mutton shank bones
- Release gelatine and marrow flavour, adding body and richness to the broth.
- Anchovy
- Adds a salty, savoury depth that rounds out the finished soup.
- Soy sauce
- Contributes savoury, umami depth and extra salt to the finished soup.
The step that matters
Simmering until the hare is tender. The kettle-and-bladder setup keeps the liquid at a gentle, low heat. A hard boil would make the broth cloudy and toughen the meat, so the pot should only simmer.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, mutton, ham, anchovy, sauce, pepper):
- Tomatofits about as well
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Onionthe original
- Shallotfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, mutton, ham, anchovy, sauce, pepper. 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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