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Broths and Soups

A beef broth enriched with forcemeat balls, herbs, and wine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 21 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Broths and Soups

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. Cut the shin of beef into several pieces.

  2. In a pot, combine the beef, carrots, and onions.

  3. Cover with hot water and boil until the meat is tender.

  4. Add hot water as needed to maintain the desired quantity.

  5. Half an hour before it's done, add the burnt onion, parsley, bay leaves, celery, lemon peel, thyme, marjoram, basil, salt, cloves, and peppers.

  6. Strain the broth through a colander and set aside to cool.

Thicken and finish

  1. In a separate pan, melt the butter.

  2. Gradually stir in the flour, mixing with some of the stock until smooth.

  3. Strain out any knots if necessary.

  4. Add the thickened mixture to the stock while stirring continuously.

  5. Let it boil together.

  6. Add the forcemeat balls, lemon juice, and wine.

  7. Finally, include the bits of soup meat.

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. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Parsley + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

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

  5. Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Flour
Thickens the stock into a smooth, lightly body-rich broth when cooked with butter.
Butter
Melts with the flour to form a roux that carries thickening into the stock.
Shin of beef
Releases gelatin and savory flavor into the broth as it simmers until tender.
Madeira or white wine
Adds acidity and aromatic depth to the finished broth.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the broth and balances its richness.

The step that matters

Adding the roux-thickened mixture to the stock. Stirring continuously while adding the flour mixture prevents lumps; the flour starch must be fully dispersed and boiled together to thicken evenly and lose its raw taste.

Swap the onion

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, carrot, parsley, celery, lemon, thyme, marjoram. 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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