Why it works: Veal and beef are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,784 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓
Stock for White Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Place the washed veal or neck in a clean soup pot or a large stout iron saucepan, then add the sliced ham or smoked beef.
Pour in 1 pint of cold water for each pound of meat for a rich soup, or 1½ pints for a lighter version.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer.
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.
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Veal + beeftop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,784 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
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Ham + beeftop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,729 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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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 or neck
- Provides collagen and gelatin that give the stock body and a silky mouthfeel as it simmers.
- Lean ham
- Adds savory, meaty flavor to the stock.
- Cold water
- Serves as the cooking liquid that extracts flavor and gelatin from the meat.
The step that matters
Start with cold water and bring to a boil slowly. Starting the meat in cold water lets proteins and flavor leach out gradually, producing a clearer stock. Adding hot water or boiling hard can coagulate proteins and cloud the liquid.
“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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