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Knuckle of Veal, or Shin or Leg of Beef, Soup

A hearty soup made with a knuckle of veal or shin or leg of beef, bacon, root vegetables, herbs, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Knuckle of Veal, or Shin or Leg of Beef, Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the bacon into slices about ½ inch thick.

  2. Lay the sliced bacon at the bottom of a soup kettle or deep stew-pan.

  3. Place the knuckle of veal on top of the bacon.

  4. Chop the bone in two or three places.

  5. Add chopped carrots, turnips, celery, and onions (with cloves stuck in one).

  6. Add black peppercorns, Jamaica peppercorns, and herbs.

  7. Cover the meat with cold water.

Simmer

  1. Set over high heat until it boils.

  2. Skim the surface well.

  3. Reduce the heat.

  4. Let it simmer gently for about 4 hours until tender.

Strain and serve

  1. Remove the bacon and veal.

  2. Strain the soup.

  3. Cool it until needed.

  4. Skim off the fat before serving.

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

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Lemon + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,973 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,002 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Clove + thymetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,108 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Turnip + celerytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,418 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Veal knuckle
Releases collagen and gelatin into the broth, giving body and a rich mouthfeel.
Bacon
Adds smoky, salty fat that flavours the broth as it simmers.
Onions
Contribute sweetness and savoury depth as they cook down into the stock.
Carrots
Add natural sweetness and aromatic depth to the broth.

The step that matters

Skim the surface well after boiling. Coagulated proteins and fat rise as foam during the first boil. Removing them early keeps the broth clear and prevents a greasy, cloudy soup.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, carrot, turnip, celery, clove, lemon, thyme):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, carrot, turnip, celery, clove, lemon, 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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