Why it works: Veal and ham are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,264 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Stock Foe White Soups
Ingredients
Directions
Make the stock
Combine the veal, fowl, ham or bacon, and sheep's head in a large pot.
Cover with water and bring to a boil.
Simmer gently for several hours until the flavors meld.
Strain the stock and discard the solids.
Use the stock
Use the stock as a base for white soups.
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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Veal + hamtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,264 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal knuckle
- Releases collagen and gelatin during long simmering, giving the stock body and a silky mouthfeel.
- Old fowl
- Contributes rich poultry flavor and gelatin that adds body to the finished stock.
- Ham or bacon
- Adds savory, smoky depth so the stock tastes more developed.
- Sheep's head
- Adds gelatin and meaty richness, thickening the stock's texture as it cooks.
The step that matters
Simmer gently, do not boil hard. A hard boil breaks up fat and proteins and emulsifies them into the liquid, making the stock cloudy and greasy. A gentle simmer lets the flavor and gelatin come out while the stock stays clear.
“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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