Why it works: Beef and veal are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,784 recipes. Both carry 2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, green. The science ↓
Brown Stock
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and simmer
Place the beef, veal, and trotters in a covered stew pan to draw out the gravy gently until browned.
Pour in enough boiling water to cover the meat completely and bring to a boil, skimming frequently.
Season with whole peppercorns, coarse sea salt, roots, herbs, and vegetables.
Boil gently for 5 to 6 hours.
Cool and store
Pour the broth off the meat and let it cool overnight.
The next morning, remove the scum and fat, and store the broth in a stone jar for later use.
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.
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Beef + vealtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,784 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Shin of beef
- Collagen in the connective tissue breaks down into gelatin, giving the broth body and mouthfeel.
- Knuckle of veal
- Its bones and connective tissue release gelatin, adding richness and body to the stock.
- Sheep's trotters or cow heel
- Rich in collagen, they release gelatin that helps the broth set when cooled.
- Vegetables
- Their sugars and aromatics add sweetness and savory depth to the broth's flavor.
The step that matters
Skim while the stock comes to a boil and keep it at a gentle simmer. Scum and fat rise to the surface as the liquid heats. Skimming them early keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting. A hard, rolling boil breaks up the fat and proteins and clouds the stock, so it should only simmer gently.
“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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