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Brown Stock for Gravies, Soups, &C.

A rich brown stock made from beef shin or bones, simmered with vegetables and herbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and carrot 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 ↓

Brown Stock for Gravies, Soups, &C.

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the meat into half‑inch squares, removing all fat.

  2. Break up the bones and remove the marrow.

Make the stock

  1. Place the bones and marrow in a saucepan with cold water and salt.

  2. Bring slowly to a boil, skimming off the thick brown scum.

  3. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer very slowly for 4 to 5 hours.

  4. Strain the stock and let it cool, then remove the fat.

  5. The stock is now ready for use.

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. Parsley + carrottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

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

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,810 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Celery + turniptop 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

Shin of beef or bones
Gives the stock its body and rich savory flavor as collagen and marrow break down during long simmering.
Onion, browned
Adds deeper color and a roasted, sweet savory note to the finished stock.
Carrot
Contributes subtle sweetness and aroma to the simmering liquid.
Celery
Adds a fresh, aromatic vegetable background to the stock.

The step that matters

Skimming off the thick brown scum. As the water first comes to a boil, proteins and impurities rise to the surface as scum. Removing it keeps the stock clear and prevents off, bitter flavors from mixing back in during simmering.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, celery, parsley, carrot, turnip):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, celery, parsley, carrot, turnip. 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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