Why it works: Pepper and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓
Clear Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the stock
Ask your butcher to crack the bones and joints of the beef shin and veal knuckle.
Put the bones over the fire with 8 quarts of cold water; cover and heat until hot.
Bring to a boil, remove scum, and simmer for 3 hours.
Add black peppers and cloves, and continue to simmer for another 3 hours.
Let the soup cool overnight, then salt to taste and remove the solidified fat.
Return the bones and liquid to the heat, strain through a colander into a bowl.
Clarify and serve
For serving, heat 1 quart of stock, add quarter onion, and stir in egg white and shell until coagulated.
Strain again through a thick cloth, boil, and add Worcestershire sauce and celery extract before serving.
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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Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Clove + celerytop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together4,668 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).
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Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,518 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef shin
- Provides meat and connective tissue that release flavour and body into the stock as it simmers.
- Veal knuckle
- Cracked bones release gelatin and collagen, giving the broth its body and mouthfeel.
- Egg white and shell
- Coagulating proteins bind suspended particles so they can be strained out, clearing the broth.
- Whole cloves
- Add warm, aromatic spice notes to the broth during the long simmer.
- Whole black peppers
- Add a mild, pungent spiciness that infuses the broth during simmering.
The step that matters
Clarifying with egg white and shell. Heat must be applied gently so the egg white and shell coagulate and trap cloudy particles. Boiling too vigorously breaks up the raft, leaving the stock murky and the clearing incomplete.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, veal, pepper, onion, egg, sauce, celery):
- Parsleyfits better
- Tarragonfits better
- Capersfits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, veal, pepper, onion, egg, sauce, celery. 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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