Name: A Very Nourishing Veal Broth
Ingredients: 1 knuckle of veal (leg or shoulder); 1 old fowl; 4 shank bones of mutton, soaked and bruised; 3 blades of mace; 10 peppercorns; 1 onion; 1 large piece of bread; 3 quarts of water; Coarse sea salt, to taste

Why it works: Mutton and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,488 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

A Very Nourishing Veal Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

In a stew pot, combine the veal knuckle, old fowl, mutton bones, mace, peppercorns, onion, bread, and water.
Bring to a boil, then skim off any foam.
Simmer on low heat for 4 hours, or bake if preferred.

Finish

Strain the broth and remove the fat.
Season with coarse sea salt to taste.

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.

Mutton + breadtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,488 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Veal + muttontop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,394 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-nonanal (fatty, waxy).
Onion + breadtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,676 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Mace + oniontop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together7,078 recipes

Shared aroma: eugenol (clove, spicy).
Veal + breadtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,056 recipes

Shared aroma: cis-3-hexenol (green, grassy).

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

What each ingredient does

Veal knuckle: Adds gelatin and deep meaty flavour as it simmers slowly in the water.
Old fowl: Contributes rich flavour and body to the broth during long, gentle simmering.
Mutton shank bones: Release collagen and marrow flavour, giving the broth depth and a fuller body.
Onion: Adds savoury sweetness and aromatic depth to the finished broth.

The step that matters

Skimming the foam after the boil. Foam carries impurities and coagulated proteins from the bones and meat. Skimming it early keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting, so it does not turn cloudy or bitter as it simmers.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, mutton, onion, bread):

Garlicfits better
Celeryfits better
Pepperfits better
Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, mutton, onion, bread. 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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A Very Nourishing Veal Broth