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Ox-cheek Soup

A hearty soup made with ox cheek, vegetables, herbs, and a roux thickener.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Ox-cheek Soup

Why it works: Thyme and marjoram 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-cheek Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak the ox-cheek in salt and warm water for 5 to 6 hours, changing the water two or three times.

  2. Prepare the vegetables by cutting them into thick slices.

  3. Wash the ox-cheek well.

  4. Break the bones into small pieces.

Make the soup

  1. Melt the butter or fat in a large pot.

  2. Add the vegetables to the pot and fry until browned.

  3. Add the bones, herbs, seasonings, meat, and water to the pot.

  4. Bring the mixture slowly to a boil and skim off any foam.

  5. Cover and simmer gently for about 3 hours.

  6. Strain the soup and return it to the pot.

  7. Bring it back to a boil.

Thicken and serve

  1. Mix the flour smoothly with a little cold water or stock, then pour it into the soup and stir.

  2. Simmer for a few minutes.

  3. Cut the smaller pieces of meat into dice and add them to the soup, along with diced cooked celery and carrot.

  4. Season to taste.

  5. Serve.

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.

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.

  1. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Basil + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together688 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  3. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Parsley + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 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

Ox-cheek
Gives rich meaty flavour and gelatin that body the broth as it simmers slowly.
Butter or good fat
Carries flavour from the browned vegetables and helps build the soup's savoury base.
Flour
Thickens the strained soup so it has a smoother, heavier body.
Onion
Browns in the fat to add sweetness and savoury depth to the broth.
Bones (in the method)
Release gelatin and marrow flavour during long simmering, enriching the broth.

The step that matters

Bring the flour mixture into the soup smoothly. Flour clumps if added dry or to hot liquid without first being mixed into cold liquid. Blending it smoothly into cold water or stock lets the starch disperse evenly, so it thickens the soup without lumps.

Swap the onion

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against carrot, turnip, celery, parsley, thyme, basil, marjoram. 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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