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Stock for White Soup

A clear stock made from ham, veal, vegetables, and spices, simmered for several hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Stock for White Soup

Why it works: Celery and carrot 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 ↓

Stock for White Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Place the ham in a clean soup pot or stout iron saucepan.

  2. Add the veal pieces on top of the ham.

  3. Pour in 4 to 6 quarts of cold water, depending on desired richness.

Simmer the stock

  1. Bring to a boil, skimming off any scum that forms.

  2. Add the salt, onions, celery, carrots, white pepper, and mace.

  3. Reduce heat and let the soup simmer gently for 5 to 6 hours.

Strain and cool

  1. Strain the stock into a clean deep pan and cool it before storing.

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. Celery + carrottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

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

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

  3. Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. White pepper + macetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,695 recipes

    Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).

  5. Carrot + macetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,592 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

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

What each ingredient does

Veal knuckle or neck
Releases gelatin and body into the broth during long simmering, giving richness.
Lean ham
Adds savory, meaty flavor to the broth as it simmers.
Onions
Contribute sweetness and aromatic depth to the stock.
Celery
Adds aromatic, vegetal flavor that rounds out the broth.
Carrots
Add gentle sweetness and aroma to the stock.

The step that matters

Skimming the scum after the boil. Scum is coagulated protein and impurities that cloud the stock and can taint its flavor if left to recirculate. Skimming early keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, veal, onion, celery, carrot, mace):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Marjoramfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, veal, onion, celery, carrot, mace. 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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