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Stock, and Clear Soups

A clear stock made by simmering meat, bone, water, vegetables, herbs, and pepper for several hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Meat and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,777 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Stock, and Clear Soups

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash and cut vegetables beforehand, keeping them in cold water.

  2. Cover the meat and bone with sufficient water.

Simmer and skim

  1. Heat the pot slowly from cold to hot, avoiding rapid boiling.

  2. Skim the surface frequently, adding a coffee cup of cold water to help remove scum and fat.

  3. Use a wooden spoon to stir.

  4. Keep the pot partially uncovered to allow steam to escape.

  5. After skimming, add vegetables and herbs, and let them simmer until done.

  6. Remove vegetables once cooked and maintain a simmering heat under the pot.

  7. Allow about four to five hours to extract essence from the meat.

  8. Season carefully, adding pepper and herbs gradually.

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. Meat + peppertop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,777 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

Meat and bone
Releases gelatin and savoury flavour into the water during long, gentle simmering.
Vegetables
Add aromatic sweetness and depth to the stock as they simmer.
Flavouring herbs
Contribute aroma that infuses the stock during simmering.

The step that matters

Heat slowly and skim frequently. Rapid boiling emulsifies fat and cloudy proteins into the liquid, making the stock murky. Gentle heating and regular skimming remove scum and fat so 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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