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Stewed Ox Cheek

A slow‑cooked stew of ox cheek with carrots, turnip, celery, onions, and aromatics.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Stewed Ox Cheek

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash the ox cheek in warm water, then cut all the flesh from the bone with a sharp knife.

  2. Roll the flesh up and tie it with string.

  3. Place the rolled ox cheek in a stewpan with 1 oz of clarified dripping and fry until browned.

  4. Wash and scrape the carrots, then cut them in half.

  5. Wash, peel, and cut the turnip in half.

  6. Wash the celery and cut off the green tops.

  7. Peel the onions and stick 12 cloves into one of them.

Simmer

  1. Place the rolled ox cheek, bones, and all the vegetables in a saucepan, then add the mace, peppercorns, salt, and bouquet garni.

  2. Pour in enough cold water to cover everything, about 6 quarts.

  3. Bring to a boil, skim, then reduce heat to simmer gently for 4 hours.

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. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Marjoram + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

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

  5. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

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

What each ingredient does

Ox cheek
Collagen-rich connective tissue that breaks down during long simmering, giving a tender, silky texture.
Onions
Provide savory sweetness and aroma as they soften and release flavor into the broth.
Carrots
Add natural sweetness and body to the broth as they cook down.
Turnip
Adds mild earthy sweetness and aroma to the simmering liquid.
Butter
Adds richness and flavor to the stew base.
Flour
Thickens the stew liquid as it cooks.

The step that matters

Skimming after the boil. Bringing the liquid to a boil releases foam and fat impurities that rise to the surface. Skimming them keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting before the long, gentle simmer.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (carrot, turnip, celery, thyme, marjoram, parsley, clove):

  1. Parsnipfits better
  2. Leekfits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, turnip, celery, thyme, marjoram, parsley, 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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