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Stock for Gravy

A rich stock made from beef, fish, vegetables, herbs, and butter, used as a base for gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 20 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 ↓

Stock for Gravy

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the beef

  1. Place thinly cut beef without any fat in a gravy pot and cover the pot.

  2. Cook over low heat, shaking occasionally, until the juices are absorbed back into the meat.

  3. Add enough water to cover the meat and let it simmer.

  4. Add a small amount of water, herbs, onion, spices, and a bit of ham, then simmer until rich.

Make the vegetable base

  1. In a separate pot, melt the butter.

  2. Add carrots, onions, parsley, thyme, cloves, and bay leaves.

  3. Add the fish, salt, pepper, wine, and broth, then cover and simmer until mashed.

  4. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve.

Finish the stock

  1. In another pot, simmer the mushrooms, parsley, and chives in 4 pints of water until flavorful.

  2. Strain both liquids.

  3. Heat them together.

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 + thymetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Lean beef
Provides the main meaty flavour and body as its juices cook into the stock.
Butter
Melted to carry the aromatic vegetables and herbs, adding richness to the base.
Carrots
Add sweetness and aroma as they soften during the long simmer.
Fish
Breaks down during simmering to add savoury depth and body to the stock.
Dry white wine
Adds acidity and aroma that help lift and round out the flavours.
Mushrooms
Contribute earthy, savoury flavour to the second liquid.

The step that matters

Cook the beef over low heat until its juices are absorbed back. Gentle heat lets the meat release its juices slowly and reabsorb them, concentrating flavour before water is added. High heat can toughen the meat and scorch the bottom of the pot.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, meat, ham, butter, carrot, parsley, thyme):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, meat, ham, butter, carrot, parsley, 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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