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Brown Stock

A rich stock made by simmering beef and veal with herbs, vegetables, and seasonings for several hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Brown Stock

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. In a covered stewpan, gently cook the meat until it releases its juices and browns.

  2. Add enough boiling water to cover the meat completely.

  3. Bring to a boil, skimming off any foam, and season with pepper, salt, roots, herbs, and vegetables.

  4. Reduce heat and simmer gently for 5 to 6 hours.

Strain and store

  1. Strain the broth from the meat and let it cool overnight.

  2. Remove any scum and fat, then store the broth in a stone jar for later use.

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

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  4. Parsley + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,810 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Thyme + leektop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together360 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

Shin of beef
Releases gelatin and collagen into the broth, giving it body and a rich mouthfeel.
Knuckle of veal
Adds bones and connective tissue that release gelatin, thickening the stock as it simmers.
Sheep's trotters or cow heel
Contributes gelatin-rich collagen, helping the finished broth set when chilled.
Roots (carrots, onions, etc.)
Add sweetness and aromatic depth as their sugars caramelise during the initial browning.

The step that matters

Gently cook the meat until it browns. Browning the meat before adding water develops deeper, roasted flavours through the Maillard reaction. Cooking too fast or without enough fat can scorch the meat and make the broth bitter.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, veal, carrot, parsley, thyme, celery, leek):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, veal, carrot, parsley, thyme, celery, 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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