Why it works: Celery and leek match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,093 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Clear Giblet Soup a L’lRLANDAISE
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the broth
Prepare giblet broth as directed for the previous soup.
Trim giblets and place in a soup pot.
Skim fat from broth and clarify by mixing egg whites with cold water.
Boil the clarified broth, then add sherry and simmer for 20 minutes.
Strain the broth through a napkin onto the giblets.
Add vegetables and serve
Reserve 1 quart of broth in a stewpan.
Boil white parts of celery and leeks cut into 1‑inch lengths in the reserved broth.
Add boiled vegetables to the giblets, season to taste, and serve.
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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Celery + leektop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,093 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Sherry + leektop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together61 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity).
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Sherry + celerytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).
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Egg + leektop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together294 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Egg + sherrytop 29% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,324 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg whites
- Clarify the broth by collecting cloudy particles, leaving it clear.
- Sherry
- Adds acidity and aroma to the broth.
- Celery
- Contributes a fresh, savory flavor and crisp-tender texture to the soup.
- Leeks
- Add mild onion-like sweetness and aroma to the broth.
The step that matters
Clarifying the broth with egg whites. Egg whites must be whisked into cold liquid and then heated gently so proteins coagulate and trap cloudy particles. Adding them to hot broth or boiling too vigorously can cloud the soup instead of clearing it.
Swap the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sherry, leek):
- Thymefits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Capersfits better
- Celerythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sherry, 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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