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A rich beef stock made by simmering bones, meat, and vegetables for 7 to 8 hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Stock

Why it works: Turnip and leek match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,046 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Stock

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the meat from the bones, reserving suitable pieces for fricandeau.

  2. Break the bones into small pieces and place them in a large stock pot with the meat.

  3. Add chopped turnips, carrots, celery, and leeks.

  4. Add a little coarse sea salt, but no herbs or spices.

  5. Fill the pot with cold water and bring to a gentle boil.

Simmer and strain

  1. Once it begins to simmer, skim the surface carefully.

  2. Keep the pot covered except when skimming.

  3. Simmer gently for 7 to 8 hours.

  4. Strain the stock through a cloth or sieve into basins.

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.

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.

  1. Turnip + leektop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,046 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  3. Turnip + carrottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,002 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Turnip + celerytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,418 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Carrot + leektop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,310 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Gravy beef
Provides meat flavour and gelatin-rich body as it cooks slowly in water.
Leg of beef
Adds meaty flavour and body to the stock during long simmering.
Knuckles of veal
Bones release gelatin, giving the finished stock body and a silky mouthfeel.
Legs of white veal
Contribute gelatin and delicate meat flavour to the long-simmered stock.

The step that matters

Skimming the surface once it simmers. Skimming removes coagulated proteins and fat that would otherwise cloud the stock and make it greasy. Keeping the pot covered otherwise and simmering gently prevents the liquid from churning, which keeps the stock clear.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, veal, turnip, carrot, leek):

  1. Celerythe original
  2. Parsleyfits about as well
  3. Marjoramfits about as well
  4. Thymefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, veal, turnip, carrot, leek. 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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