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Ox-tail Soup

A hearty soup made from oxtail, onions, cloves, herbs, wine, and mushroom catsup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Ox-tail Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Divide the ox tail at the joints and soak in warm water.

  2. Fry the tail slices in a saucepan.

  3. Add cloves, onions, sweet herbs, black pepper, and mace.

Simmer the soup

  1. Cover with water and boil, skimming off any foam.

  2. Simmer gently for 2-3 hours until the meat is tender.

  3. Remove the meat, cut into small pieces, and set aside.

  4. Strain the broth through a cloth or sieve.

Finish and serve

  1. Add wine and mushroom catsup, then return the meat to the soup.

  2. Bring to a boil 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. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Clove + macetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  3. Wine + mushroomtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,632 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-propylphenol (allspice, anise).

  4. Onion + mushroomtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,626 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Clove + mushroomtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,663 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

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

What each ingredient does

Ox tail
Releases collagen and gelatin during long simmering, giving the broth body and tender meat.
Onions
Add sweetness and savory depth as they soften and release flavor into the broth.
Wine
Adds acidity and aroma that brighten the rich, fatty broth.
Mushroom catsup
Adds concentrated savory, umami flavor to the broth.

The step that matters

Skimming off the foam after boiling. Foam carries coagulated proteins and impurities to the surface. Removing it as it forms keeps the broth clear and free of bitter or scummy flavors.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (clove, onion, pepper, wine, mushroom):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Garlicfits better
  3. Rosemaryfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against clove, onion, pepper, wine, mushroom. 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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