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Ox-head Soup

A hearty soup made from an ox cheek, vegetables, and spices simmered for hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Marjoram and thyme 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 ↓

Ox-head Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the ox-cheek

  1. Soak the ox-cheek in cold water for 2 hours.

  2. Break any unbroken bones and wash the meat in warm water.

  3. Place the meat in a pot and cover with cold water.

Simmer the soup

  1. Bring to a boil and skim off any scum.

  2. Add celery, carrots, turnip, onions, peppercorns, allspice, and herbs.

  3. Cover the pot and simmer gently for about 3 hours.

  4. Remove the head.

Finish

  1. Let it cool.

  2. Cut the meat into pieces.

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. Marjoram + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Allspice + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,077 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Celery + carrottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  4. Marjoram + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together957 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  5. Allspice + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together342 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

What each ingredient does

Ox-cheek
Breaks down during long simmering to give the soup body and rich, gelatinous meat.
Onions
Add sweetness and savory depth to the broth as they cook down.
Carrots
Contribute natural sweetness and body to the broth during long simmering.
Celery
Adds aromatic, savory flavor to the broth as it simmers.
Turnip
Adds mild sweetness and earthy flavor to the broth.
Allspice berries
Contribute warm, aromatic spice notes to the broth.

The step that matters

Skim off any scum. Scum is coagulated protein and impurities that rise as the liquid heats. Removing it early keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting rather than cloudy or greasy.

Swap the onion

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against celery, carrot, turnip, allspice, marjoram, lemon, thyme. 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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