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Meat Jellies for Pies and Sauces

A gelatinous stock made from beef, veal, ham, and aromatics, used for pies and sauces.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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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

  1. In a large pot, combine the beef, veal, and water.

  2. Add the ham, carrots, parsley, onion, bay leaves, mace, peppercorns, and salt.

Simmer

  1. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 5 to 6 hours.

Finish

  1. Skim off any fat after the mixture has cooled.

  2. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve or cloth to achieve clarity.

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. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

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

  4. Parsley + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,768 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Clove + macetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked 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
Long simmering draws gelatin and flavor from the connective tissue into the liquid.
Veal knuckle or neck
Bones and connective tissue release gelatin, giving the stock body and a silky mouthfeel.
Lean ham
Adds savory, salty depth to the broth as it simmers.
Onion
Contributes sweet, aromatic flavor to the stock as it cooks.
Carrots
Add gentle sweetness and savory background flavor to the broth.

The step that matters

Keep the simmer gentle. A rolling boil emulsifies fat into the liquid and clouds the stock, while a gentle simmer lets fat rise and proteins stay loose so the stock can be skimmed and strained clear.

Swap the mace

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

  1. Celeryfits better
  2. Marjoramfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. 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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