Why it works: Carrot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,053 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Beef Stock
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Chop the beef or bones into pieces and wash them.
In a large pot, combine the beef or bones with cold and hot water.
Simmer
Bring to a boil, skimming off the scum as it forms.
Reduce heat and let it simmer gently.
Add carrots, onions, parsley, peppercorns, salt, and garlic.
Cover the pot and skim as needed.
Once the meat is tender, strain the stock through a sieve.
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.
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Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together29,058 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
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Parsley + garlictop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,308 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,873 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21,601 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
- Beef legs, shin, and scrags or bones
- Release collagen, gelatin and flavour into the water to give the stock body.
- Carrots
- Add natural sweetness and aromatic depth to the broth.
- Onions
- Contribute savoury sweetness and aromatic flavour as they cook down.
- Garlic
- Adds a pungent aroma that mellows during the long simmer.
The step that matters
Skimming the scum. Scum is coagulated protein and impurities that rise when the liquid first heats. Removing it keeps the stock clear and clean-tasting; leaving it in makes the broth cloudy and muddy in flavour.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, carrot, onion, parsley, garlic):
- Cuminfits better
- Thymefits better
- Celeryfits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, carrot, onion, parsley, garlic. 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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